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SPRING
Journal of
2016
MEDICINAL PLANT
CONSERVATION
A United Plant Savers’ Publication
Slipper y Elm
in the Herbal
Marketplace
Fra m in g a
Dom estic Market for
American Ginseng
Conserving &
Popularizing
Wild Fruits
in Sri Lanka
Tafi Atome
The Original
Sacred Grove
Wild Plant
Gatherers
Lessons from the
All Mighty
Shorea faguetiana Tree
Two Sides of
Chaga
The Complicated
Histor y of Smilacaceae
United Plant Savers
PO Box 776, Athens, OH 45701
Tel. (740) 742-3455
[email protected]
www.unitedplantsavers.org
SPRING 2016
Executive Director
Susan Leopold, PhD
[email protected]
Editor
Beth Baugh
Graphic Artist
Liz Butler
Board of Directors
Sara Katz, President
Rosemary Gladstar,
Founding President
Kathleen Maier, Vice President
Bevin Clare, Secretary
Joe Viny, Treasurer
Tim Blakley
Melanie Carpenter
Helen Lowe-Metzman
Todd Lynch
Michael McGuffin
Emily Ruff
Mark Sieffert
Steven Yeager
UpS Advisory Board
Mindy Green, Chairperson
Don Babineau
Betzy Bancroft
Jane Bothwell
Peggy Brevoort
Richo Cech
Mark Cohen
Ryan Drum
Dr. James Duke
Trish Flaster
Steven Foster
James Green
Christopher Hobbs
David Hoffmann
Loren Israelsen
Kelly Kindscher
Lynda LeMole
Jon Maxwell
Robert McCaleb
Pam Montgomery
Deb Soule
Nancy Scarzello
Paul Strauss
David Winston
Lee Wood
Rebecca Wood
Katherine Yvinskas
Greetings from UpS President
Sara Katz, Herb Pharm co-founder & UpS board president
A theme that characterizes the activities of United Plant Savers over the
past year is connectivity and collaboration, and this issue of the Journal
exemplifies that clearly.
UpS’s mission is to ”protect native medicinal plants of the United States
and Canada”, yet it goes without saying that plants and the people who
appreciate them are not bound by geography.
Notably, Sacred Seeds, a global network of botanical sanctuaries
preserving biodiversity and plant knowledge, has recently come under
UpS’s oversight. In this Journal issue are superbly interesting contributions
from Sacred Seeds member sanctuaries including the Native Forest
Foundation, which is conserving and popularizing wild fruits in Sri Lanka; Tafi
Atome Sacred Grove, a ”community-managed natural area” in Ghana;
and a fascinating discussion about the Smilacaceae family from Rachel
Thomas of Hidden Garden Ethnobotanical Sanctuary in Puerto Viejo, Costa
Rica.
UpS’s “At-Risk” Assessment Tool has also gone international. Quickly gaining
notice by plant conservation agencies around the globe, the Tool has
proven to be easily adapted to usage in other countries.
Within these pages are a myriad of articles from members doing purposeful
and interesting plant work, sharing ideas, challenges, and successes.
Debbie McSweeney intelligently and passionately pleas the plight of bees
and offers real ideas on how we can help. Robert Dale Rogers explains the
demand for chaga as medicine resulting in feverish harvesting from the
wild. Camille Freeman creatively discusses how to encourage and nurture
a deep love of the environment in the very young. And Eric P. Burkhart,
Ph.D., describes the diseased plight of slippery elm trees and the role
United Plant Savers members and herb businesses could play in conserving
and making wise use of this important North American medicinal tree.
In an effort to encourage cultivation of forest botanicals, UpS is
collaborating with the PCO Forest Grown Verification Program to establish
branded third-party verification for non-timber forest products, including
American ginseng. Erika Galentin discusses the potential of such efforts to
create sustainability in the highly nuanced American ginseng industry.
And certainly not least or last, our Botanical Sanctuary Network continues
to grow. Eight new members joined in 2015 representing Light Footstep
Herb Farm in Ohio, Florida School of Holistic Living, Cedar Mountain in
Washington State, Hootenanny Hill in New York, Luna Farms Herb Farm
in Illinois, Well Spring Mountain North Carolina, Ginseng Sanctuary in the
Arkansas Ozarks, and Walker Mountain in Virginia. Three of them tell their
inspiring stories within these pages.
I want to take a moment to thank our amazing and generous contributors
to the Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation over the years. The quality
of the information, the manifest love and devotion for the plants, people’s
experiences and stories…all shared freely and in the spirit of hope.
In gratitude,
Sara Katz,
UpS board president
2 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
Table of Contents
Medicinal Plant Conservation
2015 AWARD
––– Recipient –––
Leigh-Wai Doo
“The Plant of Aloha” is the
title of a short video interview
highlighting 2015 Medicinal
Plant Conservation Award
winner, Leigh-Wai Doo. The
award honors Leigh-Wai
for his continued tenacious
dedication to conservation
and restoration of Hawaiian
sandalwood (Santalum
paniculatum). In the interview
Leigh-Wai explains the history
and culturally significant
meaning of sandalwood, also
Susan Leopold and Leigh-Wai Doo at the
International Sandalwood Symposium
known as iliahi in Hawaiian.
This interview highlights the
symbolic nature of sandalwood, as the ultimate plant of Aloha,
because of how its symbiotic nature symbolizes the importance of
working together. Leigh-Wai Doo, long-time sandalwood activist
has applied his passion by being a proponent of sandalwood
legislation. He has tirelessly been proposing and supporting various
bills at the state legislature over the last five years. There has been
fierce opposition from the logging industry, and the state has
been reluctant to follow through on conservation funds directed
at studying the current sandalwood populations. There continues
to be a standoff, but Leigh-Wai Doo’s persistence continues to
educate legislators about the issue and bring awareness to the
plight of sandalwood.
One of the most moving moments for me getting to work with
Leigh-Wai was at the Sandalwood Symposium that UpS coorganized in 2014. The first evening after dinner was when the
children of the Iliahi Elementary School danced and sang. Before
they danced, Leigh-Wai Doo, who had arranged for the students
to perform, came in to give the students a pep talk about the
role of iliahi in their Hawaiian culture. He looked out over the
large glass windows where you could see the beautiful Japanese
garden at the East-West center, and he said to them, “You might
look out and see a spectacular garden, but none of these are
native plants; they are brought in from other countries. The iliahi
is a native tree from your culture that is sacred. The native plants
are disappearing at an alarming rate, and preservation of your
heritage and your culture is intimately linked to the native plants of
your Hawaiian Home”.
Saving sandalwood is no easy task; there are layers of
environmental and cultural tragedy that create obstacles to
implement conservation efforts. UpS is continuing to work on
bringing awareness toward the issues surrounding sandalwood.
Go to our sandalwood page linked to our “At-Risk” List for further
information; and a link to the recent Herbalgram article featuring
sandalwood; and to watch a series of short videos featuring
key sandalwood activists. Do your part and refrain from using
Hawaiian sandalwood, and be cautious when using plants that
are being sourced from the wild.
Slippery Elm in the Herbal Marketplace
4
UpS Kicks off Forest Grown
7
Endangered Medicinal Plants of the
Driftless Region
8
A Golden Opportunity
10
Restoration of the Heart, Lessons from
the All Mighty Shorea faguetiana Tree 12
Framing a Domestic Market for
American Ginseng
16
The Complicated History of the
Smilacaceae Family
20
Native Forest Foundation: Conserving
& Popularizing Wild Fruits in Sri Lanka 22
Learning to Adapt
24
The Original Medicinal Plant Gatherers
& Conservationists
26
Medicinal Plant Conservation & Use
at Tafi Atome Sacred Grove
30
“At-Risk” and “To-Watch” Lists
34
Raising the Next Generation of Plant
Conservationists
34
UpS Helps Send Kids to Camp
37
The Most Precious Medicine at Risk
38
Book Reviews
41
Botanical Sanctuary Program
42
Light Footsteps Farm
42
The First American Ginseng
Sanctuary
43
Walker Mountain
45
The Two Sides of Chaga
46
Spring Grant Recipients
48
PIE: Partners in Education
49
Using Traditional Knowledge
in Everyday Life
50
Green Thanks and Gratitude
52
Events & Green Network
54
Adopt an Herb Program
55
Cover art work by Shay Clanton. See more of her work
throughout the Journal and at www.shayherringclanton.com
Spring 2016 | 3
Slipping Away?
Slippery Elm in the Herbal Marketplace - Past, Present & Future
by Eric P. Burkhart, PhD
Slippery Elm (Ulmus rubra Muhl.) is one of the most
well-known, and widely used, medicinal tree barks
native to the United States. It is currently included on
the United Plant Savers “At-Risk” List due to concerns
over the continued industry dependence on wild
harvested material to fill market demand.
The name slippery elm refers to the texture of
the inner bark, especially when moistened. The
dried bark has historically been mixed with water
and applied topically to treat wounds and skin
irritations, and internally for sore throat, coughs and
gastrointestinal conditions.
It contains a complex
assortment of chemical
and nutritional compounds
including mucilage (hexoses,
pentoses, methylpentoses),
glucose, polyuronides,
tannins, starches, fat,
phytosterols, and various
nutrients (calcium, iron, zinc,
magnesium, potassium)
(Braun and Cohen, 2010).
Slippery elm (Ulmas rubra) bark
Native Americans
utilized a variety of
tree barks in their
pharmacopoeia
(Moerman, 1998).
Slippery elm was
one of a few
(including sassafras
and black cherry)
to be accepted
by European
Peeling the inner bark of slippery elm
settlers. It has
subsequently become a commonly traded bark in
the US herbal marketplace. Surveys by the American
Herbal Products Association (AHPA) provide a
glimpse into the volume of slippery elm bark traded
in recent years: Between 1999 and 2010, the total
quantity of wild harvested dried bark handled was
78,000-353,000 pounds annually (AHPA, 2012).
Slippery elm is a medium-sized tree (60 to 70 feet in
height and 24 to 36-inch in diameter) of moderately
fast growth that may live to be 200 years old (Cooley
4 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
and Van Sambeek, 2016). Bark harvesting is usually
done on trees or branches greater than one-inch
in diameter to ensure a reasonable yield from the
effort. A study of one-inch diameter wild slippery
elms showed age to be 7 to 18 years old depending
on severity of competition (Ibid). Published studies
show a growth rate of around one-half to one-inch
increase in diameter over an 8 to 10-year period
(ibid).
In the nineteenth century, the de-barking of slippery
elm in the eastern United States for medicine was
apparently commonplace. In his published profiles of
American Forest Trees (1913), for example, Henry H.
Gibson wrote:
“The inner bark has long been used for
medicinal purposes. It is now ground fine and is
kept for sale in drug stores, but formerly it was
a household remedy which most families in the
country provided and kept in store along with
catnip, mandrake, sage, dogwood blossoms, and
other rural remedies which were depended upon
to rout diseases in the days when physicians
were few.... The supply is rapidly decreasing.
The cut for lumber is the chief drain, but a not
inconsiderable one is the peeling of trees for
bark. This goes on all over the species’ range
and much of it is done by boys with knives
and hatchets. It is often hard to find slippery
elms within miles of a town, because all have
succumbed to bark hunters.” (page 391-2)
The stripping of live trees for bark continues today
in parts of Appalachia. Disappointingly, there have
also been a number of visible “poaching” incidents
reported during the past decade (e.g., Associated
Press, 2006, Crawford, 2007, Toncray, 2012, USFWS,
2016).
Attempts to cultivate trees for bark have been
sporadic and inadequate. The amount of cultivated
material reported in AHPA surveys is a small
percentage of the overall trade volume (e.g.,
generally less than 10,000 pounds) (AHPA 2012).
Moreover, there have been no published scientific
growing trials to guide slippery elm plantation
establishment and management nor to provide
insights into any differences in bark yield, quality, and
chemistry as a result of tree diameter. Any transition
to cultivated sources has undoubtedly been
hindered by the long time horizon involved until crop
‘maturity’ coupled with a relatively low price offered
for raw product. In recent years, the price paid per
pound of slippery elm bark has ranged between
$1.00-$5.00. There are reports that suggest that one
dozen trees are needed to yield fifty pounds of
fresh bark (Associated Press, 2006, Toncray, 2012);
however, tree diameter and age are not provided
in these reports, and both would clearly influence
yields.
Despite the long history of exploitation, slippery elm
is considered ‘secure’ or ‘un-ranked’ within its native
range of the central and eastern United States
(NatureServe, 2016). However, there are additional
threats beyond bark harvesting which are rapidly
inflicting havoc on wild populations and ultimately
threaten wild abundance and supply to the herbal
trade. It is well known that slippery elm succumbs to
many of the same diseases as American elm–most
popularly Dutch elm disease (Ceratocystis ulmi).
Increasingly, however, slippery elm is also being
killed by ‘elm yellows’ or ‘elm phloem necrosis’
(Candidatus Phytoplasma ulmia, a wall-less bacteria
called a phytoplasma). These two diseases are so
virulent and widespread that slippery elm seldom
reaches commercial size and volume today.
As the ‘newcomer’ of these two elm diseases, the
origin of elm yellows remains a mystery. It was first
described in the Midwestern United States in the
1930s, but it may have been present much earlier
(Sinclair, 2000). The only known host of elm yellows
is elm (Ulmus spp.). There is no known resistance
in North American native elms, but some Eurasian
species appear to be tolerant or resistant. In the
United States the disease is transmitted by the whitebanded elm leafhopper (Scaphoideus luteolus) (and
possibly other insects) that feed on the sap. Slippery
elm usually dies within a year or two after symptoms
appear (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2012).
Foliar symptoms of infected trees usually appear
from mid-July to mid-September in the United States
and include yellowing, drooping, and premature
leaf drop. Symptoms may resemble those caused
by water stress or nutrient deficiencies and generally
affect the entire crown. An odor of wintergreen oil
(methyl salicylate) is often noticed when the moist
inner bark of an infected elm is exposed; placing
freshly exposed inner bark into an airtight container
often serves to concentrate the wintergreen scent.
Dying slippery elm may sometimes also emit an odor
similar to maple syrup (Gibson et al.,1981).
Trees diagnosed as having elm yellows should
be removed promptly because there is no
practical control available. From a bark harvesting
perspective, it may already be too late to salvage
the bark from infected trees by the time symptoms
become obvious. The reason is that the bark may
SLIPPERY ELM ALERT
United Plant Savers would like to start gathering important
data on the spread of slippery elm diseases (elms yellows
and Dutch elms). You can email us at [email protected]. Send us a picture of your observation
and information to your location that you feel comfortable sharing. Location data will remain confidential.
be of lowered quality, especially if the smell if “off”
(i.e., smells like wintergreen or maple syrup) and/or is
discolored. This underscores the need for proactive
monitoring of wild or cultivated trees, and timely
harvesting of tree bark once elm yellows is detected
in the region or area.
In coming years, there will be an urgent need
for herbalists, bark harvesters, herb traders, and
academia to work together to observe, gather and
share information about elm yellows throughout
the eastern United States. There is little awareness
or effort being directed around this developing
problem, with the dire possibility that slippery elm
may soon be reduced to seedling/sapling stature
across its range. If or when this happens, the ability
to procure raw materials will be severely curtailed
with a likely spike in demand (and price) resulting
in increased harvest pressure on remaining large
healthy trees. Grass roots cooperative efforts
might include proactive monitoring networks, seed
distribution from possible resistant trees (if/when
they are found), and cooperation between buyers
and harvesters to more closely examine questions
regarding differences in bark quality as a function of
degree of disease infection symptoms. The United
Plant Savers member and business network could
potentially play a bridging role in these efforts.
Slippery elm is a tree with a long tradition of use and
exploitation in the United States. Despite historical
harvest pressures, recent poaching incidents, and
a lack of widespread cultivation, the species is
presently considered “secure” within much of its
range. This conservation status may change in
coming years with the spread of diseases such as
elm yellows, and highlights a real need for the herbal
community to proactively work together to thwart
any possible supply crisis. The future of slippery elm
may be slipping away if we as a community of plant
stewards don’t begin to pay attention to what is
happening with slippery elm in the wild and work
together to conserve, and make wise use of, this
important North American medicinal tree.
Eric Burkhart, PhD, is an ethnobotanist interested in
the husbandry, conservation and supply chain aspects
of native Appalachian medicinal forest plants. His
work and research program (at Penn State University)
is focused on developing sustainable medicinal crop
management and production systems in Pennsylvania
and the mid-Atlantic region through agroforestry and
plant husbandry practices.
Spring 2016 | 5
Slipper y Elm Har vest
Stewardship Guidelines
Remarkably given its commercial importance to the herbal
industry, there are no published studies to help guide
‘sustainable’ slippery elm harvests. The following suggestions
are therefore based on available publications, information,
and common sense:
There is no accepted season for harvesting slippery elm bark.
Some bark harvesters will peel bark anytime of the year. It
tends to peel easiest from late March to early June while
the sap is flowing, however. This makes sense because sap
and bark harvested in the spring should be especially full of
mucilage, sugars, and nutrients as the tree prepares to break
bud.
Diameter is a better indicator of bark yield than age.
Some bark buyers claim that ten-year-old bark is the best.
Keep in mind that the diameter of a tree is not always
strongly correlated with age. Trees that are “open grown”
often increase in diameter more rapidly than trees under
competition or on poor sites.
Slippery elm bark is used most often in rossed form. Rossed
means that the rough outer bark is removed by scraping or
peeling it from the inner bark while the bark is still fresh. High
quality, rossed bark will be smooth, leathery, and creamy
white in color. The following video of elm bark stripping shows
how skilled and labor intensive this process of rossing elm bark
can be: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-GxB34BjlA
References
American Herbal Products Association. 2012.
Tonnage Surveys of Select North American
Wild-Harvested Plants, 2006–2010. Silver Spring
(MD): American Herbal Products Association.
Associated Press. 2006. Slippery Elm Trees
Fall Victim to Poachers. Available at: www.
nbcnews.com/id/14272015/ns/us_newsenvironment/t/slippery-elm-trees-fall-victimpoachers/
Braun, L. and M. Cohen. 2010. Herbs and
Natural Supplements: An Evidence-based Guide,
Third Edition. Elsevier, Australia.
Cooley, J.H. and J. W. Van Sambeek. 2016.
Ulmus rubra, Slippery elm. In: Silvics of North
America: 1. Conifers; 2. Hardwoods. Agriculture
Handbook 654 (1990) (Tech Coord.: Burns, R.M.
and B.H. Honkala). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Washington, DC. vol.2.
Available at: http://na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/ulmus/rubra.htm
Crawford, B. 2007. Bark thieves taking bite out
of slippery elms. Available at: http://archive.
courier-journal.com/article/20070530/COLUMNISTS04/705301300/Bark-thieves-taking-bite-outslippery-elms
Gibson, H.H. 1913. American Forest Trees.
Hardwood Record. Chicago, IL.
Only remove thin vertical strips from live trees. It is possible to
harvest the bark of slippery elm by removing only segments of
bark at any given time. However, when one girdles the tree, it
is likely to die. The inner layers of the bark provide for the flow
of water and nutrients throughout the tree, and this process is
cut off when the bark is completely or mostly removed. From
a commercial perspective, it will take more time and effort to
harvest only thin sections of live standing trees.
Gibson, L.P. et al. 1981. How to Differentiate
Dutch Elm Disease from Elm Phloem Necrosis.
United States Department of Agriculture Forest
Service NA-FB/P-11. Available at: http://www.
na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/howtos/ht_dednecrosis/
ht_dednecrosis.htm
Choose dying trees for harvest. Unfortunately, an increasingly
common site in the landscape are losses due to Dutch-elm’s
and Elm Yellows. Keep an eye on local slippery elm trees
and watch for signs of disease. The bark should be harvested
before or soon after symptoms are first observed. Infected
trees will decline rapidly, and the inner bark quality will as
well.
NatureServe. 2016. Comprehensive Report
Species - Ulmus rubra. Available at: http://explorer.natureserve.org
Choose ‘over stocked’ locations to harvest from. Thinning
a forest stand by removing trees that appear to be less
vigorous or closely spaced together can help the residual
trees by reducing stress due to competition. This will not only
help improve the future elm stand, but a product can still be
harvested on an annual basis.
Bark drying requires heat and airflow. If you choose to dry
the bark, lay strips of bark flat and separated in a dry area
and turn daily to prevent molding. Hanging strips of bark
from building rafters also works well. Depending on the drying
location and weather conditions, slippery elm bark should be
dry in less than a week. Once the bark has dried, fold it into
strips for storage or sale.
6 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
Moerman, D.E. 1998. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, Inc. Portland, OR.
Sinclair, W.A. 2000. Elm Yellows in North America. In: The Elms: Breeding, Conservation and
Disease Management (Ed. C.P. Dunn). Kluwer
Academic Publishers, Boston.
Toncray, M. 2012. Five arrested for stripping
bark from trees. Available at: http://www.
maysville-online.com/news/five-arrested-forstripping-bark-from-trees/article_efaca1b0ed1d-54a5-a5db-c2228744b3c6.html
U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.
2012. Pest Alert: Elm Yellows. Northeastern Area
NA–PR–04–12. Available at: http://na.fs.fed.
us/pubs/palerts/elm-yellows/elm_yellows-pestalert-120709_high-res.pdf
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2016. Forest Service increases watch for illegal taking of slippery elm bark. Available at:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/dbnf/newsevents/?cid=FSEPRD495630
UpS Kicks Off Forest Grown
by Susan Leopold, PhD.
Forest Botanicals: Working Together to Build a New
Supply Chain was a “first of its kind” event that
United Plant Savers held this past November with
support from Mountain Rose Herbs, Penn
State, PCO, and Virginia Tech.
the mountains of Tennessee, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina to engage, network, and
discuss how to move towards a more sustainable
forest herb supply
that encourages
stewardship of the
region these plants
call home. We must
address the root of
the issue if we are
to truly ensure the
conservation of these
important medicinal
plant species.
How much longer
can the ecosystem
support the constant
wild harvest of native
woodland botanicals?
Do we know who is
harvesting and where
forest botanicals are
Those that attended
being harvested? The
are working hard to
new PCO forest grown
support a shift–a new
verification program
paradigm for AppaLeopold, Eric Burkhart, Jeanine Davis, Leslie Zuck, Jennifer Gerrity,
encourages “conserva- Susan
lachia, one that conJoshua Bogart, Jacob Lauch, Tiffany Brown
tion through cultivation”
serves the forest and
as a solution of sustainability, quality, and ethics.
the plants while providing quality herbal products.
The new PCO program that allows woodland farm- Thank you to all that attended to make this event
ers of medicinal plants to be verified is perfectly
a success!
synced with another new project, “Appalachian
Beginning Forest Farmer Program: Growing Oppor- If you are interested in learning about forest farmtunities Beneath the Canopy”. United Plant Savers
ing, find out about upcoming workshops funded
is one of several collaborators that will be a part
through the USDA grant: Appalachian Beginners
of a 3-year funded USDA program to train future
Forest Farming Program. To join the network and for
forest farmers in how to become growers of native
direct inquires, contact Holly Chittum at hollykc@
medicinal plants within the Appalachian region.
vt.edu.
For those who attended and for those who are
interested you can locate the power point presen- One-Day Introduction Events
tations from the workshop in PDF format on the UpS (register on the UpS website for the one-day
website under recent news articles.
events)
The workshop kicked off with Jeanine Davis from
North Carolina State University who presented Lessons Learned: A Historical Perspective on Buying
and Selling Forest Botanicals. Eric Burkhart of Penn
State University presented Native Medicinal Forest
Plant Supply Chains in the Eastern United States:
Opportunities, Challenges and Third Party Verification. Leslie Zuck, President of PCO presented on the
new ‘Forestgrown’ Producer Verification Program.
For further details visit http://www.paorganic.org/
forestgrown. For those who were interested in
joining the program UpS had set up a cost share
program to help with enrollment costs.
The one-day workshop ended with a presentation
by Jennifer Gerrity, Executive Director of Operations and Jacob Lauch, from the procurement
department of MRH on the Buyer Perspective on
a Forest-grown Supply Chain: Needs, Pricing, and
Expectations. Folks came from southern Virginia,
June 4: Growing Ginseng & Appalachian Forest
Botanicals for Market, Pine Mountain, KY
June 8: Growing Ginseng & Appalachian Forest
Botanicals, Robertson Station, KY
June 25: Growing Ginseng & Appalachian Forest
Botanicals for Market, Rutland, OH
Weekend Intensives
August 5-7: Blue Ridge Woodland Growers two-day
training in Floyd, VA
August 26-28: Appalachian Sustainable
Development two-day training in Mountain City, TN
September 24-25: Rural Action two-day training at
the UpS Sanctuary in Rutland, OH
Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows
how to speak to them, whoever knows
how to listen to them, can learn the
truth. -Herman Hesse
Spring 2016 | 7
Endangered Medicinal Plants of the Driftless Region
by Lora Krall
Tucked in the corners of the four states of Minnesota,
Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa along the upper
Mississippi River valley, lies the Driftless Region.
Eight-five percent of this area is within Wisconsin.
Escaping the last glacial age some 300 million years
A second and potentially more devastating threat
to the region is the frac sand mining industry. As
large corporations remove topsoil, stripping away
the fine grained sand used for hydrolytic fracturing
in oil production, they also disturb many of the algific
talus slopes. This adds to erosion issues in addition
to air quality concerns as fine sand particles are
released into the air. Local groups in the area are
working hard to keep frac sand mining out of the
region.
Finally, the weather cannot be underestimated as
another potential threat. With variable weather
patterns assisted by man’s disturbance of the land,
otherwise manageable weather events can tip the
fragile balance of the Driftless. Flash floods or heavy
rains can remove slopes in a matter of minutes and
with it the plants and animals unique to this area.
Excess heat and drought conditions deplete frozen
ground water stores in turn reducing the cool air
needed to maintain the algific slopes.
The Driftless Region
Despite these threats many are working to
ago, the Driftless is an island of untouched land
protect this unique area. US Fish and Wildlife, US
characterized by steep slopes and cliffs called the
Department of Agriculture, and Land Stewardship
“algific talus slopes.” These slopes become Mother
Project are three large organizations working hard
Nature’s natural air conditioning in the summer
for land management, safe farming practices,
months as air is drawn through sink holes over frozen
and wildlife/habitat protection. The Driftless Area
beds of ground water to be released through vents
National Wildlife Refuge located in McGregor,
in the slopes. It is this unique area that is home
Iowa is a sanctuary within the area. Established
to some of our most “At-Risk” and “To- Watch”
in 1989, it is focused specifically on research and
listed plants, such as bloodroot (Sanguinaria
preservation. Beginning in 2016, United Plants
canadensis), lady’s slipper (Cypripedium acaule),
Savers local members in southeast Minnesota and
lobelia (Lobelia inflata), spikenard (Nardostachys
western Wisconsin will begin offering educational
jatamansi), maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum),
presentations specifically about the plants “At-Risk”
mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum), ramps (Allium
or “To-Watch” bringing yet another voice to the
tricoccum), echinacea (Echinacea spp.), and
preservation of the Driftless Region. Together we can
slippery elm (Ulmus rubra) in addition to northern
preserve this unique region of our country.
blue monkshood (Aconitum noveboracense),
Lora Krall is a nurse herbalist, avid
a plant that only grows in this region. This
environmentalist, and voracious
plant life within an equally endangered and
reader. She is an original member and
unique geographic region offers a new arena
past co-president of the Coulee Region
for United Plant Savers. The Driftless region
Herbal Institute, lead contact for
is challenged by three primary factors. First,
Winona Herbal Education Society, and
though an especially fertile and pristine area
a member of the American Herbalists
for farming, this area is threatened by poor
Guild, Herbalists Without Borders,
farm management that has contributed to
and United Plant Savers. She teaches
erosion of slopes, pesticide runoff into fresh
Lora Krall
and writes on health, advocacy,
water streams, and overgrazing of land. The
and herbalism bridging the gaps in
US Department of Agriculture, as well as many
healthcare. Lora is a regular contributor to Herbal
other groups, has developed several incentives
Living magazine blog and is a teaching assistant for
to reeducate farmers supporting organic farming
the Art and Science of Herbalism course developed by
methods, decreasing pesticide runoff, and
Rosemary Gladstar. Contact: [email protected]
reestablishing native prairies for soil and habitat
stability.
8 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
References
Fiorillo, T., Collins, A., Waggoner, B., Speer, B.,
Rieboldt, S., & Smith, D. (1994). The PaleozoicEra.
Retrieved December 30, 2015, from the University
Of California Museum Of Paleontology, Berkeley
Web site: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/paleozoic/paleozoic.php
Jefferson, Anne. (2010, November 30). The Driftless Area: Fewer glaciers but more topography
than the rest of Minnesota. Highly Allochthonous:
News and Commentary for the World of Geography and Earth Science. Retrieved January 1,
2016, from
http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/2010/11/the-driftless-area-fewer-glaciersbut-more-topography-than-the-rest-of-minnesota/
U.S. Department of Agriculture: Driftless Area
Landscape Conservation Initiative Fact Sheet.
(May, 2015). Retrieved January 2, 2016, from
Driftless_FactSheet_6-11-15.pdf.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Division of Conservation Planning. (2006). Driftless Area
The Peace of Wild Things
by Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in
me and I wake in the night at the least
sound in fear of what my life and my
children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the
water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.
I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light.
For a time I rest in the grace of the
world, and am free.
National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan. Retrieved December 30, 2015,
from http://www.fws.gov/Midwest/planning/DriftlessArea/index.html#ccp Washington, DC: U.S.
Government Printing Office.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Division of Conservation Planning. (2008). Trempealeau
National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan. Retrieved December 30,
2015, from http://www.fws.gov/midwest/planning/Trempealeau/ccp/AppC_specieslists.pdf
(Appendix C). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Division of Conservation Planning. (2006) Upper Mississippi
National Fish and Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan. Retrieved
December 29, 2015, from
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/planning/uppermiss/feis/AppendixK.pdf
(Appendix K). Washington, DC: U.S. Government
Printing Office.
The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe
to match your nature with Nature.
-Joseph Campbell
In this election year, think of
voting for the PLANTS!
Thanks to all of the
UpS members that
voted last winter
in the Sugarlands
$5,000.00 non-profit
giveaway for the
top ten non-profits
with the most votes!
UpS received the
funds and put 100%
towards plant conservation efforts providing critical matching
funds to support
ginseng, ramps, and goldenseal conservation in the
Wayne National Forest in collaboration with Rural
Action and the National Forest Foundation. Our
Interns also assist in this project by monitoring plant
populations and planting seeds!
Spring 2016 | 9
A Golden Opportunity
A workshop exploring the Sacred Seeds
and the Botanical Sanctuary Network
by Emily Cook
On October 1st and 2nd, 2015 experts, academics,
artists, and land stewards convened at Goldenseal
Sanctuary in Rutland, Ohio, which is headquarters of
the United Plant Savers (UpS) network. Their uniting
force was Nurturing Your Botanical Sanctuary, a
workshop focused on
sanctuaries, sacred natural
areas, and the conservation
and cultivation of medicinal
and rare plants.
of medicinal plant conservation, we realized that
one must first preserve and protect the habitat
in which our native plant communities thrive.”
Goldenseal Sanctuary was the first UpS Botanical
Sanctuary.
This sanctuary is unique
in two important ways.
It was the first botanical
sanctuary in the U.S.
dedicated to the
conservation of “AtRisk” medicinal herbs.
It is also speculated
that the area may be
home to the largest
single population of
wild goldenseal on the
planet.
Nurturing Your Botanical
Sanctuary had 33
attendees representing
eight states and Canada,
making this a dynamic,
international debut event.
So moved by the work
being done by UpS and
Goldenseal Sanctuary,
Participants of the workshop in front of the iconic sanctuary sign, made
as well as the lore of the
Goldenseal Sanctuary’s
from a tree on site that was felled in a tornado.
sanctuary land itself,
commitment to the
many described their journey to the sanctuary
land extends from its mission statement down to the
as a pilgrimage. Some were former Goldenseal
interpretive signs stationed around the property. The
Sanctuary interns, and most have sanctuaries of their official sanctuary sign is carved from a white oak
own or recently acquired land they wish to nourish
tree that was felled by a tornado. Located in the
with native, rare, and medicinal flora. The goal of the Appalachian foothills of southeastern Ohio, near the
event was to create dialogue
West Virginia state line, the
to improve the reach of UpS
panorama of the sanctuary
and Sacred Seeds Network,
is quintessentially pastoral.
to serve as a potential model
Country roads wind by fields
for future workshops at other
that are dotted with barns
locations, and to facilitate
and bordered by forests.
start-up sanctuaries. UpS is
Within these forests is where
partnering with the Sacred
people turned for medicine.
Seeds Sanctuaries network,
However, the property
which has 35 members in 17
and surrounding land has
countries. UpS and Sacred
not always been one of a
Seeds are hoping to hold a
peaceful sanctuary.
similar workshop in the future
overseas, possibly in Ghana.
In more recent times, people
have turned to the forest for
In its own words, the mission
money. Considered one of
and work of UpS is “to
the most impoverished areas
A healthy goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) stand at
Goldenseal Sanctuary
protect native medicinal
in the nation, the monetary
plants of the United States and
incentives of mining were
Canada and their native habitat while ensuring an
quickly undertaken. Today the sanctuary has been
abundant renewable supply of medicinal plants
restored but still bears scars from where the land was
for generations to come…. To this end, United
exploded to collect coal.
Plant Savers established one of our most important
projects: the Botanical Sanctuary Network. As we
Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) is used to treat
inflammation, digestive woes, respiratory troubles,
became more deeply involved in the complexities
10 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
immune system weakness, and support a healthy
mucous membrane. It has also been shown to
have antifungal and antibacterial properties. It is
popularly used in medicinal remedies.
The sanctuary takes a multidisciplinary approach
to its management. This is showcased in its onsite
educational and research center, repository of
native medicinal plant germplasm (seed or tissue
that is maintained for the purpose of breeding,
preservation, and research uses), propagation
facility, sustainable land use model, and status
as an ecotourism attraction. Sessions at the
conference addressed many topics, including
mapping and organizing tools, place-based
art education and observation, sacred area
management around the world, and of course,
ethnobotany. One attendee said of the many
presentations, “Topics were well ordered and the
presenters were skilled. It was a good balance of
multiple areas, so that there was enough diversity
in the content to really walk away with enough
resources to define my interests and have the ability
to start pursuing them.”
Ethnobotany, as defined by one workshop
presenter, is considered the study of the interface
between people and plants. The inescapable
reality is that people and plants are connected. In
Goldenseal Sanctuary’s case, both rely on each
other.
environmental education in my community;
also use federal and state resources!”
When asked what they will do differently as a result
of the workshop, impassioned participants said
they would: “Pursue designation as a botanical
sanctuary. It now seems both realistic and
achievable,” “Grow more “At-Risk” medicinals, and
forage wild edibles,” and, “How do I help UpS?!”
How can you help UpS? Spread the word. Visit their
website and donate. Join the botanical sanctuary
global network.
Currently, there is a project to build a visitors
center at the United Plant Savers headquarters.
Donations are being accepted to aid this project.
Become a “Partner in the Green.” This small group
is doing great things: protecting plants, creating
multidisciplinary solutions to environmental
challenges, and blending science and art in
education. I do not doubt that they are changing
and healing our world. Through your support, you
can, too. www.unitedplantsavers.org
Emily Cook is a field biologist, educator, coach, and
graduate student. [email protected]
Thank you New Chapter for your support of
Sacred Seeds and the Sanctuary workshop
Healing the land after exploitative mining and
facilitating responsible use of goldenseal and
other medicinal plants are still only part of the
solution. The sanctuary is bordered by private land.
Many landowners are working together and with
the sanctuary to link hiking trails, management
practices, and community ties. However, the mining
industry is still present in the area. It would only take
one person to allow mining on their property, and
the stability of the entire area ecosystem could
be compromised. More than 500 species of plants
and half of the designated UpS “At-Risk” native
medicinal plants are found in the sanctuary.
Challenges that attendees mentioned facing in
their own endeavors were informing people about
their sanctuary, gaining support, and how to legally
(and most beneficently) establish their sanctuary.
The vast majority of participants left the workshop
inspired and better prepared to grow. In their own
words:
“I really felt a green spark from this
conference, and I will take a lot away
from this that will help inspire my future
endeavors. I very much felt a great, intimate
vibe from this gathering…. Thanks!”
“[I’m] inspired to continue involvement with
Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) Artwork by Shay
Clanton, www.shayherringclanton.com
Spring 2016 | 11
Restoration of the Heart, Lessons from the
All Mighty Shorea faguetiana Tree
by Susan Leopold, PhD
Tamara Negara
wiped out 130 million years of life in just a few 100
years of deforestation fueled by irresponsible land
Nearly twenty-one years had passed since I had
use practices. It’s hard to really wrap one’s head
cast my wish at Kanya kamayi into the visual well
around the rate of deforestation and the impact to
of both the sun setting and moon rising at the tip
biodiversity, since numbers cannot quantify what
of southern India. The next place I landed after my
has been destroyed. Its something you feel deep in
pilgrimage travel adventure was Malaysia. Back
your heart that is undeniable.
then no one had cell phones, my Nikon camera
used film, and backpackers relied on guidebooks
The connection between palm oil and
and talked to strangers to navigate unknown
coal extraction, feeding off each other
terrain. It was a flyer at a hostel in Penang that
As we drove past the barren landscape that was
would lead me on an ethnobotanical trip to the
once forest, watching it burn and then be re-graded
Malaysian rainforest to visit a community of Orang
for roads and palm plantations, I thought of how
Asli. This opportunity was with a guide who was a
coal is the fire that fuels the
Malay linguist and anthropologist.
factories, and the palm oil is the
We would go where the wild
main ingredient in these factory
elephants roamed the rainforest,
products. From nutella to
along with mouse deer, millions
shampoo, palm oil is the cheap
of tiny leaches and stay in the
filler ingredient in everything,
forest as guests of the talented
and coal/fossil fuels feed the
nose flute players and dance
never-ending production of
with them on bamboo platforms
material matter that fills the
that bounced like a trampoline
market place. It’s practically
into the night. Now I had returned
impossible for anyone to avoid
with a smart phone in hand as
these two cancers on the
my digital camera and operative
planet, yet we seek to find
guidebook. Once I landed
a balance between habitat
a reality check set in, I saw a
destruction and industrial
landscape that was once forest
demands of resources. Perhaps
now converted to a sea of palm Climbing the Koompasia excels
they felt so intricately linked
plantations—unsustainable farming
because of my personal connection to witnessing
practices resulting in erosion of the mountains,
the devastation of mountaintop removal on my
population explosion, and the expansion of the
drive to the United Plant Savers Botanical Sanctuary
sleepy town of Penang into a metropolis city.
through southern and western Virginia and Ohio.
Then to arrive in Malaysia having heard of the
My journey back to Malaysia seemed like opening
deforestation issues and palm plantations, but to
a personal time capsule, but it is nothing compared
witness it was true devastation on such a scale it tore
to the long journey of how what has been claimed
my heart apart.
to be the oldest rainforest on the planet came into
being. Estimated to have been in existence for more
Merging my passion for plants and a deep love
than 130 million years it is an ancient rainforest kin
for tree climbing, I set out on this personal journey
to the Daintree Rainforest in Australia. Upon arriving
to climb a tree that had been measured as the
we traveled by bus and then by boat up river
tallest tropical tree, Shorea faguetiana of the
into Tamara Nagara. Here we climbed a gigantic
Koompasia excels, a towering tree with large buttress Dipterocarpecea family reported to be over 260
feet tall. My personal intention was to connect
and smooth bark known for the wild honeybees
with a tree so magical that it could renew my
(Apis dorsata) that make their nests high in its
branches. The Tualang Honey, as it is called, is highly sense of place in my own life. The Dipterocarps
are the gentle giants of the tropical rainforests of
valued and symbolizes the sweet interconnected
Asia; growing straight like tulip poplars and then
journey into the living pulse of the rainforest.
branching like broccoli at the crown makes them
Tamara Nagara is Malay and literally translates
ideal for timber. Tragically the diptocarp tropical
into National Park. According to the World Wildlife
forests are also the hot spot of deforestation and
Fund, from 1983-2003 4.9 million hectares of forest
thus all the species that call this forest home are in
were lost due to deforestation in Malaysia. Without
peril. These trees are windows into the past—they
these fragments of “parks” humanity could have
12 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
are storytellers of Gondwana and are our ancestral
beings, and I was on a quest to meet one individual
magnificent Shorea.
Dipterocarpaceae Family
Dipterocarpaceae (Latin for two-winged fruit)
has a wonderful spin as it circles and falls to the
forest floor. The two-winged flyer took on a more
symbolic connection, the fruit representing the
once super continent of Gondwana and the two
wings representing the dipterocarps still found in
South America and the ones that now flourish in
tropical Asia. Going back to the super continent of
Gondwana, the dipterocarps are thought to have
arrived an estimated 45 million years ago, when a
moist corridor between India and Southeast Asia
resulted in a major influx of plants with Gondwana
affinities, such as tree ferns, arums, orchids,
lychophytes, and hornwarts.
After this arrival the dipterocarps underwent a
massive evolutionary radiation that resulted in the
explosion of biological diversity within this family of
trees that is unlike any other family of trees, with over
500 documented species throughout Southeast Asia.
The rainforests of Asia are unique in this respect, and
we have no real understanding of how and why the
dipterocarps came to be the diverse dominating
giants of the Asian tropics, just observational
theories. Living dipterocarps are spread over the
tropical belt of three continents of
Asia, Africa and South America but
in Asia they dominate with diversity,
and the ecosystems reflect their
strength.
Just as the coal and the
palm oil seemed intricately
connected so are the oaks
and the dipterocarps
I sat at the base of the tallest
giant tropical tree reading several
scientific papers downloaded on
to my iPhone. Amazed at what I
was reading and that I could be
in Malaysian Borneo with better
and cheaper connectivity to the
web than from my mountain home
in Virginia near Washington DC., I
sat on the forest floor among the
Dipterocarp seed
centipedes and reflected on the
irony of our modern world and the knowledge of
others at my fingertips. I was reading about the
complexity and similarity of the oak/Fagaceae
forests of my home to the mighty dipterocarps.
The mycorrhizea are the real links in the mutualistic
relationship between the roots and fungi in which
plants receive minerals and water from the fungus
in exchange for carbohydrates. Almost all plants
have mycorrhizal connections but unlike most other
rainforests trees, dipterocarps are ectomycorrhizal
trees, and their seedlings
are linked by a network
of fungal hyphae that
transfer nutrients from
decaying organic matter
to seedlings. As soon as
the two winged seed
germinates they can
instantly plug into the
existing resources from its
nearby parent/mother
tree. What is mind blowing is Logging trucks in Malaysia
that this is the same fungal
association that occurs in the Fagaceae family.
It is striking to see the connection of how trees with
ectomycorrhizae have thus chosen the evolutionary
strategy of mass fruiting at multiple year intervals,
satiating seed predators and ensuring a large
genetic seed bank with its abundant seedlings.
These wise ancient trees have chosen a unique
path to reproduction via synchronizing a massive
flowering event that will happen “randomly” every
2-7 years. This prevents animals from going from
tree to tree for an annual food source, and it allows
for mass cross pollination resulting in a successful
seed bank for the future. The tree puts so much
energy into making this mast year happen when
the time is just right that it will stop growing during
this phenomenon. These seedlings then form a mass
colonization of the forest floor
around the mother tree and the
ectomycorrhizae connection
sustains these seedlings. Equipped
to live as small understory herbs
for 15 plus years, they await the
opportunity to shoot up as trees
when the conditions of sunlight
stimulate a massive growth spurt.
The dipterocarps are essentially a
unique hybrid taking in strategies
associated with temperate forests
such as the oaks with the mass
fruiting of acorns but in a tropical
climate. This is different from the
Amazonian tropical forests that
I was more familiar with, where
trees do not grow as tall, do
not live as long, and the forest
thrives off of trees that fall over
creating light gaps that create
regenerative opportunities among a thin layer of soil
and a rich canopy above. The forests Asia felt more
dark and dank to me then tropical forests of the
Americas that I had explored.
I sat there in the living seed bank that formed a
carpet below this massive mother tree as ropes were
set to be able to climb to the canopy. I became
lost in the fungal forest and meditated on the
concept of the collective Gaia consciousness held
Spring 2016 | 13
in the seed bank waiting for the right conditions for
one seedling to become a tree. The role of fungi
is that they transfer not only sustenance but also
intelligence; the scientific study of native fungi has
only begun to document the diversity that is found
in these forests. At the Forest Research Institute of
Malaysia they have a research program to further
understand the biology, ecology and identification
of dipterocarp mycorrhizae in an effort to develop
inoculation for reforestation efforts.
Reaching for the canopy and the resin
icicles
Hanging from the rope and making the slow ascent,
climbing nearly 200 feet, I finally reached above
the first layer of the canopy. It is at this point that I
start to sense the trees’ grounded force and what
it must be like to be anchored and to serve as a
home to so many species. It was at this crowning
point in the unfolding of the branches that I saw the
resin icicles dripping from the branches suspended
in time shimmering in the sunlight. The dipterocarps
produce a thick resin that hardens into the most
beautiful formations. It was for me a total surprise.
In the fungal forest it
makes sense that the
tree would produce
an oily aromatic resin
that presumably aids
the tree in defense
against certain
fungi, bacteria, and
mammals. The leaves
have bitter tasting
tannins and are
inedible to most, such
as the magnificent
colugos, leaf eating
gliding mammals; the
orangutans; and the
proboscis monkeys,
which are also fond of
young leaves, yet do
not eat dipterocarps.
Resin dripping from the Shorea faguetiana
Tree climbing on a
personal level lifts the heavy darkness that clouds
my heart. With each reach to a higher calling my
perspective starts to slowly shift, and my senses realign with thoughts of grounding affirmations. The
desire to go up to feel more connected to the earth
is the only way to describe why I love tree climbing.
It was a high for me to feel relief and yet as I felt this
inner peace, I looked out into the distance to see
that this tree existed within a small-forested island
surrounded by a sea of palm plantations, essentially
an island within an island.
How we perceive our relationship with trees is
intricately woven into the restoration of our hearts
and that of the planet. Andrea Wulf’s new book,
14 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
The Invention of
Nature retells the
story of Alexander
Von Humboldt’s
extraordinary life.
He was called “the
great apostle” by
George Marsh, author
of the monumental
environmental book,
Man and Nature.
Humboldt was
the visionary who
wrote about the
deforestation taking
place at the hands of
colonization through
his travels of South
America in the late
Susan Leopold climbing Shorea faguetiana
1700s. In Ecuador he
climbed the Chimborazo Volcano and had his vision
of plant geography, so phenomenally illustrated and
coined “Naturgemalde,” linking global connectivity
between plant communities in regards to elevation
and relation to the equator. His writings of concepts
were critical to our understanding now of Gaia as
a living being based on his observations of species
survival, keystone plant species in the ecosystem,
and human impact on climate change. His writings
mentored Darwin, Jefferson, Thoreau, Muir, Simon
Bolivar, and so many others. His greatest gift, from
my perspective was his ability to connect feeling
nature with his heart as he merged science, art, and
poetry into a verbal well deep in knowledge and
insight. Recent estimations are that we have lost
46% of forest cover since the beginning of human
civilization (Pennisi, 2015). E.O Wilson’s latest book,
Half Earth: Out Planet’s Fight for Life, interestingly
enough calls for setting aside half the earth for wild
nature as a solution to combat loss of biodiversity.
It’s the tropics and subtropics that support 43% of
the forests on the planet, and this is where we see
the rapid rise in forest loss. Data is currently being
gathered via satellite imagery, so we are able to
visualize change like never before. In one study
using this technology 2.3 million square kilometers
of forest loss were documented from 2000 to 2012
with forest gain of 0.8 million square kilometers at a
spatial resolution of 30 meters (Hansen et al., 2013).
We are taking down forests in the tropical belt at a
rate far greater than it can regenerate.
Non timber forest products
What has been very well documented is that even
though dipterocarp timber is the main “value”, it has
little economic contribution to local communities.
NTFPs from dipterocarps such as nuts, leaves high in
tannins, dammar, medicines, resin, and camphor,
have a much larger impact on the economies of
the rural people and forest dwellers, not to mention
the many other edible herbs and ferns, medicinal
plants, and ecosystem services of the intact forest.
When you compare all of this to the monocrop
landscape of palm plantations, it is madness.
There are so many amazing non-profits working
hard to educate the global public to curb the
deforestation practices, and France has just imposed
a first of its kind biodiversity tax on palm oil import
as a way to combat the deforestation. Further
understanding of NTFPs in the market place is the
critical link in my thoughts of how we might sustain
local economies, but sadly this has been overlooked
in the wake of global demand for palm oil.
On the flight over from Borneo to Penang I began
reliving my story in my head like a movie. I was
traveling on semester at sea at that time, and we
had docked in Penang. As I had just had the most
magical few days of my life, I ended up returning
just a few weeks later so that I could join the
ethnobotanical trip. Penang flourished as a free port
under the British East Indian company attracting
migrants from all walks of life who brought with them
a diversity of languages, cultures, religions, customs,
and trades all expressed in the unique architecture
and diversity of flavors, colors, and scents. There
I was once again walking the same streets on a
mission to visit the Goddess of Mercy Temple, to
once again pay my respects to Quan Yin, whose
name means one who sees and hears the cry from
the human world. According to the Chinese legend,
she renounced her privilege to enter eternal bliss
Alexander Von Humboldt “Naturgemalde”
he proclaimed that every town should have a forest
of several hundred acres “inalienable forever”. This
one mighty Shorea is holding down her island of
biodiversity in the hope of repopulating her kind if
we can restore our hearts and shift the paradigm of
how humanity interacts with the forests of the future.
Susan Leopold, PhD is an ethnobotanist and
passionate defender of biodiversity. She is the
Executive Director of United Plant Savers and
Director of Sacred Seeds. She serves on the Board of
Botanical Dimensions and Center for Sustainable
Economy, and she is a co-founder of the Medicines
from the Edge Conference. She is a proud member of
the Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia. She lives
on and manages a productive farm with her three
children in Virginia, where she raises goats, peacocks,
and herbs.
References
Simmathiri Appanah, Jennifer M. Turnbull. 1998
“A review of dipterocarps: taxonomy, ecology, and
silviculture.” Center for International Forestry
Research, Bogor Indonesia.
Hansen et al. 2013. High-Resolution Global Maps of
21st-Century Forest Cover Change. Science 15 Nov
2013:Vol. 342, Issue 6160, pp. 850-853 DOI: 10.1126/
science.1244693.
Pennisi, E. 2015; Earth Home to 3 Trillion Trees, Half
as Many When Human Civilation Arose http://www.
sciencemag.org/news/2015/09/earth-home-3-trillion-trees-half-many-when-human-civilization-arose
Quan Yin alter at the Goddess of Mercy
Temple, Penang
after having attained Nirvana and chose instead to
stay back and help lost souls in the world of suffering.
So far from home, yet in the Chinese herb store
just down the corner from the temple there was a
small pyramid of American ginseng prominently
displayed. This brings me full circle to the balance of
how we integrate forest products into commerce,
how we steward wild medicine, and how we
reverse the trend of deforestation. “In wildness
is the preservation of the world”, Thoreau stated
in1851. Just a few months after Humboldt’s death,
In all areas, human impact was the dominant influence
on tree density, the researchers found. By combining tree
density measures with forest cover estimates for the past
12 years, Crowther, Glick, and colleagues concluded
that humans are responsible for the loss of 15 billion
trees a year. They think that about 5 billion new trees
are planted or sprout annually, yielding a net loss of 10
billion. Since the beginning of human civilization, the
number of trees has dropped by 46%, they estimate.
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/09/earthhome-3-trillion-trees-half-many-when-human-civilization-arose
Spring 2016 | 15
Framing a Domestic Market for American Ginseng:
A Conversation
by Erika Galentin
“…it may also be true that ginseng gains
resilience [as a species] by attracting different
elements of human society–not just people
involved in medicine, but also in culture and
commerce.” David A. Taylor, Ginseng, the Devine
Root
Evidenced by the United Plant Savers’ Ginseng
Summit of 2014 and the North Carolina Natural
Products Association’s International Ginseng Expo of
2015, there is tender evolution taking place in regards
to the American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius)
industry. Questions
relating to
everything from
conservation
barriers, cultivation
practices, federal
and international
regulations,
economics, and
genetics are steadily
being discussed
as even deeper
questions begin to
American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) berries
emerge. Interest in
this iconic species is gently spreading, like water on
fertile soil, affecting landowners, growers, regulators,
law enforcement officials, ecologists, geneticists,
pharmacognosists, ethnobotanists, non-profits,
natural product industry leaders, and healthcare
professionals in pursuit of “wildlife” conservation,
market stability, economic initiatives, medical
advancement, and even cultural preservation.
In these evolutionary times, two facts remain
steadfast: 1) The American ginseng industry functions,
as it has for centuries, on the fuel of export market
trade. Like an aorta flowing from the American
heartland, it is argued that this export-focused
industry has paradoxically resulted in both the
demise and preservation of the species. 2) Similar
to the phytochemical and ecological nature of
the species itself, the American ginseng industry is
complex, layered, and multivariate. This latter truism
is especially highlighted by the presence of federal
and international trade regulations, conservation
concerns, divergent cultivation and growing
practices, law enforcement policies, and globalmarket economics.
Within these truths there appears, at first, to be
little room for the discussion about the logistics of a
16 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
domestic market (interstate trade within the United
States). Indeed, the concept of a domestic market for
the species is seemingly inconsequential due to the
minimal role that it has always played in the ongoing
American ginseng saga. In some cases it could
even be considered improbable, if not impossible.
The industry’s attention is directly deposited into the
consumer demand for American ginseng in China
and other Asian countries. And rightly so; there
are American businesses (from individual growers,
diggers, and dealers all the way up to corporate
enterprises) that derive most, if not all, of their
ginseng sales revenue from attending to the needs of
contiguous centuries-old medical traditions and world
views of the East. This is where American ginseng
is most revered and valued, where consumers are
willing to pay for what it is worth, where the pains and
strains, yet minimal gains for the American ginseng
digger or grower are most likely to fulfill a positive
cost-benefit ratio.
However, within this complex environment an
intriguing domestic market experiment is currently
underway. Testing the soil of this potentially fertile
ground, Mountain Rose Herbs of Eugene, Oregon
is the first bulk herb supplier to bravely step forward
to participate in the young initiatives of the PCO
Forest Grown Verification Program. This voluntary
program, administered by the non-profit Pennsylvania
Certified Organic, has established a branded thirdparty verification for non-timber forest products,
like American ginseng, that prescribes standards
of production, harvest, and handling, which are
designed to both ensure sustainability and uphold
federal and international laws regarding its trade. In a
recent interview with Mountain Rose Herbs regarding
their participation in this rousing venture, Jennifer
Gerrity, Executive Director of Operations and Erin
McIntosh, Marketing Director stated,
“We avoided wild American ginseng before
this Forest Grown Verification program
began, because it was just too sensitive of
a plant and not our typical market…. The
program provides the transparency our
customers expect, as well as an opportunity
to work with these special plants without fear
of harm to the wild populations. For us, the
domestic market is growing and will continue
to grow through this effort. It is happening
naturally, and we are truly grateful to see it
take shape.”
So, in other words, this pioneering experiment
appears to be working, shedding light upon the
future viability of a domestic market for American
ginseng. It is also suggesting a means by which a
domestic market would support forest-grown and
wild-simulated growing practices–responsible and
ethical sourcing combined with a permaculturelike praxis that could reduce pressure on wild
populations and sustain the long-term survival of the
species.
As this experiment evolves, there is a gentle
conversation brewing amongst American ginseng
industry gurus. When posed with the questions of
why and how in regards to nurturing a domestic
marketplace, various themes are beginning to
emerge in regards to both barriers and viability
of domestic trade for the species. These themes
wax and wane in their prominence depending
on which potential domestic consumer groups
are being alluded to as well as what part of
the plant is desired and for what purposes. The
following is merely a report on a few of the more
prominent theses arising from the domestic market
conversation, one that is filled with a multitude
of possible angles and rationalizations that await
exploration.
Theme # 1: An undervalued species
One of the major themes that is emerging
in the conversation regarding barriers to a
domestic market for American ginseng lies in
the overwhelming notion that Americans (nondifferentiated) do not value the roots themselves,
let alone their medicinal virtues, when compared to
the connoisseurship found in the Asian market. In this
export environment there is a significant spectrum of
value, as a reflection of both a root’s appearance
and taste, which is captured between cultivated
versus wild roots with more than 40 different grades
being recognized. This is a consumer culture that
not only reveres American ginseng for its inherent
medicinal properties, but also for its symbolic and
artistic potencies. For example, an Asian consumer
may purchase a single elaborately displayed
ginseng root as a gift of respect, honor, or gratitude,
or it may be placed in a home as a symbol of status.
In summary, there is expressive cultural meaning
placed upon the species, a meaning that is not
paralleled by modern American consumer culture.
There is a wide sea dividing the cultural nuances of
West and East.
However, the term value in regards to American
ginseng can also be tricky to define, as its meaning
is dependent upon who is expressing it and how it is
being interpreted. Although the average American
consumer of natural products unarguably does not
value American ginseng in the same ways or with
the same fortitude as the Asian consumer, it does
not mean that the species has gone unvalued or
even undervalued throughout American history
and into modern times. This is evidenced by a
substantial ethnobotanical list of medicinal uses
employed by various Native American tribes,
curious yet informative testimonies in historical texts
of Physiomedical and Eclectic botanic physicians
of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the multigenerational culture and ethos of ‘sanging’ within
various Appalachian American communities, and
a robust scientific fascination with the species’
phytochemical, ecological, and biological
tapestries.
The value of American ginseng within the modern
subculture of traditional Western herbalism and
those of other traditional healers within the United
States is yet another piece of the conversation.
For example, one might argue that due to
conservation and sustainability issues surrounding
American ginseng, traditional Western herbalists
have refrained from its use by primarily employing
analogue species that are more abundantly
available (species with comparable medicinal
actions). Although this may allude to a potential
lack of value for American ginseng, there are many
highly respected members of this community,
including the likes of David Winston, Matthew Wood,
Phyllis Light, and Stephen Buhner (to name only a
few) who have been steadfast advocates for its
use within clinical herbal practice for decades.
The value of American ginseng within the culture
of traditional Western herbalism can further be
supported by a modern consumer demand. Using
the example of Mountain Rose Herbs and their
recent adventures with PCO Forest Grown Verified
American ginseng products, Jennifer Gerrity and
Erin McIntosh stated,
“Our customers know what American ginseng
is, and its reputation precedes it. Everyone
wants high quality root–it’s just become a
matter of sustainable sourcing. We have
already witnessed unprecedented excitement
and support from customers when we began
offering the PCO Forest Grown Verified
ginseng roots and leaves last year. We think
the popularity stems from these botanicals
being available for the first time from a
sustainable forest model.”
Mountain Rose Herbs’ customers represent what
some might term a niche market, catering to the
needs of plant people ranging from the home
herbalist making medicine in the Western tradition
to clinical practitioners, including herbalists,
naturopathic doctors, massage therapists, and
acupuncturists. Their market also includes herbal
businesses within the cottage industry, small
commercial manufacturers of natural products, and
independent natural grocers/co-ops throughout the
United States and Canada.
Spring 2016 | 17
However, to the average, modern American
consumer of natural products differentiation of the
value of ‘ginseng’ does not exist like it does across
the world, regardless of whether these differences
represent Korean or Chinese versus the American
species, the many grades between cultivated
versus wild roots that are honored in the Asian
market, its symbolic cultural representations, or its
medicinal potential. Ginseng as a concept within
the mind of the average American consumer is
perhaps lumped into one over-the-counter energy
enhancer genre with value being translated only as
expensive or affordable or even cheap. Although
there may be a shift taking place in regards to
ginseng awareness within specific American
consumer populations, many American ginseng
industry professionals believe there is a lack of
connection to the concept of value outside of final
purchase price. In fact, price is understood to be
another barrier to the development of a domestic
market for American ginseng.
American ginseng roots
Theme #2: American consumers are not
willing to pay what it is worth
During a panel discussion at this past year’s 2015
International Ginseng Expo in Asheville, NC, when
proposed barriers to the creation of a domestic
market for American ginseng was queried, Eric
Burkhart (a well-known and respected American
ginseng industry leader from Pennsylvania State
University) responded confidently with one simple
answer: price. This sentiment has since been
additionally supported by the opinions of other
American ginseng industry confidants.
It is important to remember the concept of price
within the context of the spectrum of cultivation,
growing, wild-harvesting, and processing practices
currently employed for the species. In the export
market, wild or wild-simulated American ginseng
roots sell at much higher prices than those
cultivated by intensive agricultural practices for a
variety of reasons. This latter source of American
ginseng represents the majority of what is currently
available within the domestic American ginseng
market, being much more widely abundant than
18 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
wild, forest-grown, or wild-simulated roots and
much cheaper to procure. Although the quality of
the products made from cultivated roots may be
questionable, this is where the price point for higherend wild-simulated American ginseng roots simply
cannot compete with either cultivated root prices or
the ironically imported bargain-basement Chinese
and Korean ginseng products that have dominated
the American market for decades (so cheap that
you can get a mighty fine dose with a $1.59 energy
drink from your local gas station).
This is where the concept of value meets the
concept of price within the domestic market
conversation. The American consumer or natural
products manufacturer might say, “You want me
to pay how much for ginseng?”, and the American
ginseng grower or dealer might respond, “Lots more
than you are used to paying and for less quantity”.
There is no deal to be made in this scenario; why
would ginseng growers and dealers sell their
higher-valued roots into a lackluster and lowdemand American market when they can fetch
a much heftier price in the lusty and commanding
export market? Why would an American natural
products manufacturer or consumer pay more for
less quantity of what they perceive as just another
batch of indiscernible ginseng? These are excellent
questions.
This brings us back to the example being made
by Mountain Rose Herbs and their participation in
the PCO Forest Grown Verification program. There
is an understanding that batches will be smaller
and prices will be higher for forest-grown and wildsimulated roots. Higher prices are honored because
these types of roots are simply more valuable (within
the context of the price that can be fetched in
the export market). There is respect for the unique
growing practices that produce less fleshy and
often smaller lots of “wild-like” roots and the nonrepresentative regulatory categories and legal
paper trail they command; there is reverence for
the tenacity, time, and resources required to grow
these roots which yield higher levels of medicinal
merits (notably ginsenoside content); there is
gratitude for the reality that these wild-simulated
roots are less likely to be contaminated with residues
from the fungicides that are part and parcel to
intensive agricultural cultivation. Mountain Rose
Herbs stated,
“Before this project…our primary problem
with this crop has always been fungicide
residue. Most of the roots we see during
sourcing get rejected because they fail chemical
residue testing. Availability has always been
an issue since there is so little clean material
on the market. This project has helped shine a
bright light on the domestic market, not only
for customers and distributors, but also for
the growers and dealers. The project proves
that there is a sustainable way to bring highquality American ginseng to the domestic
medicinal plant trade…. It also helps growers
that have dedicated decades of work to the
long-term cultivation of these plants and offers
them a reliable market and fair price. We
want to pay a fair price to ensure availability
of high-quality roots for medicine makers and
encourage the growers to increase propagation
of this and other sensitive forest crops.”
Theme #3: Supply and demand within
different target consumer groups
Within this larger conversation the concepts of
value, price, and demand are inextricably linked,
and opinions regarding their balance within a
domestic market firmly depend upon the relevant
consumer group. An example of this has already
been highlighted by statements made by Mountain
Rose Herbs in regards to the successful sales of PCO
Forest Grown Verified American ginseng products
to their target consumer groups and the clean,
sustainable supply thereof.
However, one might argue that the success of the
natural products industry at-large, which caters to a
much more robust population of over-the-counter
consumers, is fueled by the need to manufacture
new, exciting, revenue-driving formulas that can
be produced in abundance. This is potentially not
the marketplace of sustainability when it comes to
the hard to come by forest-grown or wild-simulated
roots of American ginseng. This additional reality was
presented in an interview with American ginseng
grower, pioneer, and activist Bob Beyfuss of New
York, when he stated, “Woodland ginseng does
not lend itself easily to corporate farming…it is risky,
expensive, and fraught with regulatory issues.”
Although perhaps one day this could become a
competitive avenue for sustainably grown and
harvested American ginseng, there is always the
fear that such large scale consumption could
lead to further pressure on already imperiled wild
populations whereby the domestic and export
markets become a two-headed “Appalachian
Outlaw” dragon.
Additional insights regarding the nourishing potential
of value-added products within a domestic market
have been heralded by individuals such as Jeanine
Davis, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist
at North Carolina State University and co-author of
the recently published 2nd edition of Growing and
Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal, and other Woodland
Medicinals. In speaking of the PCO Forest Grown
Verification program she states, “I think selling
ginseng leaf for tea, ginseng berry juice, fresh roots
for eating and cooking, seeds and planting stock,
ginseng planting design, and garden installation
services–can all help bring a new awareness
and nurture a domestic market for American
ginseng. There are so many value-added business
opportunities, such as ginseng chocolates, ginseng
tea, ginseng potted plants as get well gifts, ginseng
planting sets with seeds and rootlets…. I think the
time is ripe for this.”
What this last discussion has highlighted is that there
is a continual need to identify promising domestic
consumer groups in regards to the form, quality,
and pricing of products that they would be willing
to purchase in order to support growers of American
ginseng within the PCO Forest Verification Program.
The conversation continues…
This is only the beginning; a promise to the future of
American ginseng as a species is clearly expressed
by the potential of a tender yet thriving domestic
market. However, all of the various and sundry
barriers and avenues for success that could present
themselves as this conversation evolves could hardly
be captured in this particular dialog. There is so
much left to be said and rabbit holes to investigate.
It would hardly be fair or accurate to assume that
this conversation is at its end. This movement, this
shift, will require time, effort, and ongoing education
and outreach on a variety of fronts. However, the
invitation to participate is now open, thanks to
the hard work of the folks behind the PCO Forest
Grown Verification program and the initiative
demonstrated by herbal suppliers like Mountain
Rose Herbs. Perhaps this is the future of American
ginseng…right here at home.
The author would like to personally thank Eric
Burkhart, Bob Beyfuss, Steven Foster, Jeanine Davis,
Stephen Buhner, and Jennifer Gerrity and Erin
McIntosh of Mountain Rose Herbs for their willingness
to answer questions regarding a domestic market
for American ginseng and their influential and
insightful comments.
Erika Galentin is a Medical Herbalist and holds a
degree in Herbal Medicine from the University of
Wales, Cardiff, UK and Scottish School of Herbal
Medicine, Glasgow, UK. With her dedication to
medicinal plants native to Ohio and the Greater
Appalachian region, Erika teaches, lectures, and
writes on native medicinal plant conservation,
herbalism, and clinical efficacy. She also participates
as a member of the Stewardship Committee for
Appalachia Ohio Alliance, a non-profit organization
dedicated to the conservation of land and water in
Southeast Ohio. www.themedicinegardener.com
References for this article are continued on page 33
Spring 2016 | 19
The Complicated Histor y of the Smilacaceae Family
by Rachel Thomas
The first time I met a member of the Smilacaceae
family was fifteen years ago. At that time I was using
Mayan medicine to destroy my ovarian cysts, with
the help of Dr. Rosita Arvigo. Red China root was one
of the plants she suggested because of its unique
capacity to rebuild the quality of the blood when
it has been weakened by toxicity, stagnation, or
other imbalances. This plant, a relative of the North
American greenbriers, has traditionally been used by
the Mayan people for all gynecological disturbances,
fatigue, acidity, and weakness (Arvigo and Balick,
1998). I have been studying this root, commonly
known in Costa Rica as cuculmeca, since that time. It
not only helped my body, it inspired me to learn more
about the secrets of Traditional Latino Medicine.
Cuculmeca (Smilax spp.) root bundle. (photo credit Louise Lakier)
Of all the amazing things about cuculmeca, my
favorite is the story the plant has told me about its
people, its land, and how a plant’s survival can be
placed at risk by the species to whom it provides
untold benefits. Cuculmeca has also taught me
the difference between preserving ethnobotanical
information and conserving the ethnobotanical
experience of the plant in the context of its natural
environment and a sustainable culture of respect for
its stewards.
Although the Smilax family has been utilized by
the medical community for centuries, its scientific
exploration has been both academically neglected
and pharmaceutically hoarded. I can see that its
conservation is as much cultural and political as it is
biological. After a decade of devoted research, the
following is the story I know so far.
Cuculmeca’s genus name, Smilax, is derived from the
Greek word for poison, referring to the anti-venom
properties of the local Smilax aspera, as used by the
Greek physician Dioscorides and the Roman naturalist
Pliny almost two thousand years ago. There are more
than 300 species of Smilax recorded throughout the
20 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
world, many of which share similar components and
therefore similar medicinal actions (Taylor, 2005).
The most famous of the family is sarsaparilla (Smilax
regelii), a popular alterative and endocrine tonic.
It is so high in saponins that it was used early on in
the industrial food revolution as a foaming agent for
making sodas.
Until the spice trade of the 15th and 16th centuries,
the only Smilax varieties in Europe were the native
ones. It was then that eastern relatives, including
Smilax glabra and Smilax china, were introduced into
European botanical medicine and became known as
China root in English or raiz de China in Spanish. There
are references found in ancient texts from China,
India, and Persia which indicate differences in the
qualities and capacities of these roots (Winterbottom,
2015). These details, including those indicating the
original uses of the plant, were not often transmitted
in the international sale of the roots, making it difficult
for physicians and herbalists to know which species
were which and how to best use them.
Further complications in identity arose when
Europeans arrived in the Americas and “discovered”
a whole new set of Smilax species. The earliest writers
appear to have given the name China root to those
Smilacaceae which were tuberous, most closely
resembling those of China. The name Zarzaparrilla,
which translates as “little bramble vine” or “grill
bramble,” was used to describe those whose roots
were long and thin, along with any of the brambly
Smilaxes.
The native people of the Americas had more names
for the Smilaxes than we can ever know. Many of the
tribal names recorded refer to the power of the plant,
such as the Mayan name ko-keh-ak, which translates
into blood vine (Ferrufino, 2015). One of the many
names recorded by the Mexica (Aztec) people was
cocolmeca, signifying a vine (mecatl) used for caregiving or sickness (cocol) in their language, Nahuatl
(Siméon, 1977). This term continues to be used today
throughout Central America, almost always referring
to the red tuberous rhizome of Smilax domingensis,
although it is also used occasionally to refer to another
Smilax, a Dioscorea, or even another healing vine
(Ferrufino, 2015). Cuculmeca is the only one of the
native Smilax names to outlive colonization. The
ubiquity of this ancient Nahuatl-based name, so far
south of traditionally Mexica territories, shows us this
plant’s pre- and post-colonial importance in the same
category with other important plants like aguacatl
and cacahuatl.
The traditional, pre-colonial systems of Native
American medicine were as holistic and
comprehensive as the traditional systems of China,
Europe, and Africa, with which it eventually blended
to become Traditional Latino Medicine. Amidst a
context of violence, greed, and spiritual persecution,
there were a few colonial writers that offered
favorable versions of the indigenous cultures which
they explored (Guzman Paredo, 1985). As I research
my cherished plant ally, I find how the oldest stories
hold the true magic of the plants and how they were
really used by those who knew them well.
disregarded, viz. the application of its principles to
useful purposes in medicine” (Hancock, 1829).
Specialization in the sciences has resulted in a
separation of medicine from botany and has led to a
great loss of knowledge and the taxonomic struggle
that we face today with the Smilax family. The earliest
accounts of purchasing sarsaparilla, China root, or
cuculmeca demonstrate what is still true today–you
will be sold only the root, with no evidence of the
aerial parts of the plant, possibly with a scientific
name which may or may not be correct. As many
of my colleagues, I have been using cuculmeca for
years, accepting the general virtues
of the Smilax family and the many
consistent recommendations from
local Costa Ricans. However, the story
of this plant has convinced me of
the importance of having taxonomic
security. I have learned that each
member of the Smilax family has unique
qualities, that they should be used with
discernment, and that they deserve to
be taxonomically distinguished.
In 1829, Dr. John Hancock of the
Medico-Botanical Society presented
his research on sarsaparilla in British
Guiana and advocated the indigenous
methods of preparation over the
popular European method of boiling
down. Although decoction is currently
considered an appropriate mechanism
for cuculmecas or China roots,
Hancock combined his mucilaginous,
aromatic Smilax with other plants and
fermented them for nine days in the
Twenty years after graduating, it
sun or fireside. Meanwhile, in Mexico,
was this plant that convinced me to
the term xocomecatl, sometimes used
reconnect with my academic roots
Cuculmeca being sold in the local
interchangeably with cocolmecatl,
and team up with ethnobotanists
market
actually means “soured vine”, possibly
who specialize in this genus. I now
referring to a wine made from the grape-like berries
understand that my responsibility to conserve this plant
or to a fermented brew of roots similar to that cited by includes knowing all its native names and properties,
Hancock (Rodriguez, 1959).
as well as collecting any local relatives and learning
all their names, too.
Enhancing the power of herbal remedies through
fermentation was one of the many complementary
I have also had to learn about cuculmeca’s complex
techniques that originally accompanied the Smilax
ways of reproducing and maturing. The plant is
recipes–not just how much of the plant to use but all
dioecious, which means that you need both a male
the other details involved in using the plant correctly.
and a female plant within range for unassisted
Early writer Pedro Cieza de Leon wrote an entire
reproduction to take place. It may take up to 40
chapter on “The Admirable Root Called Sarsaparilla,
years for the tuberous rhizome to be hard enough for
Good for all Illnesses” in 1540 in Peru. His remedy for
harvest, and it requires a canopy tree to climb in order
syphilis included wrapping oneself in blankets as
to flower!
protection against cold and wind, taking purging
laxatives, and eating lightly. He also reports that the
It is impossible to know how much cuculmeca has
Zarzaparrilla root should be prepared as an agua, in
been harvested or removed from the forests of Central
this case meaning relating to drinks which are either
America over the past 500 years. Not surprisingly,
cold infusions or warm infusions that have been
the colonizers did not plant, as much as continually
cooled. The still common Latin American dosage,
reap, using slavery and their repressive position with
“tomar como agua” refers to how the infusion should
the Native Americans to fill their pharmaceutical
be consumed in the place of water throughout the
orders. Export records show tons of plant material
day (Guzman Paredo, 1985).
per year being exported to Europe and the U.S.
throughout this time (Ferrufino, 2015; Winterbottom,
Hancock gives similar specifications with his Smilax
2015). Simultaneously, there are very few projects
remedy, including a bland diet, no alcoholic drinks,
currently working to promote sustainable harvesting
and Greek-derived humoral therapy. His thesis
or encouraging reproduction, despite abundant
accuses physicians of reducing the full medicinal
research showing the Smilax family to be a good
experience, leaving behind the holism of Galen in
potential non-timber forest product for conservation
favor of the contemporary fashion of separating the
areas.
continued on page 25
sciences. Hancock says, “In the prevalent affection
for mere descriptive botany, its more important and
scientific objects have been nearly overlooked and
Spring 2016 | 21
Native Forest Foundation:
Conser ving & Popularizing Wild Fruits in Sri Lanka
by Damitha Rjapakse: Conservation of Lesser-Known Species & Ethnobotany Project
Sri Lanka is a country with rich biodiversity–about
3368 plant species belonging to 1294 genera and
132 families have been identified, and around 800
of these are endemic to Sri Lanka (Rajapakse, 1998).
Most of these plants were utilized in building healthy
rural communities under the precise guidance of
traditional local healers, members of the elderly,
and indigenous communities during the past. In
addition, the forest played a vital role in fulfilling
basic human needs such as timber, firewood,
medicine, and food plants. These plant species
have unique therapeutic and nutritional properties
with a potential in solving acute global health
problems. They are connected with ethical, cultural,
spiritual, and social activities recognized from the
earliest days of human history.
serratus) and wild olive, or weralu, are species
The childhoods of past generations were invariably
journeys that introduced them to wild fruit trees that
grew in abundance in their immediate environs.
Madam (Syzygium cumini), himbutu (Salacia
reticulata Roxb), uguressa (Flacourtia inermis Roxb),
and kirilla (Grewia microcos L) to name a few, are
among over 100 wild fruit varieties that were part of
the process of discovering the world. Those flavors
and discoveries were
naturally of indelible
nature. Unfortunately,
these are simple
childhood pleasures that
generations to come will
likely be denied.
Loss of biodiversity and diminishing plants of the
country have been identified through the National
Strategic Plan of Conservation of Biodiversity in Sri
Lanka by well-known professionals under the Ministry
of Environment and Forest resources in 1999. In
addition, Sri Lanka has been designated as one of
the 18 biodiversity hotspots in the world (Ministry of
Forestry and Environment in Sri Lanka, 1999).
The reliable elderly
community has revealed
that the availability
of over 100 such wild
fruit species are not
well-known, and only
a few have been
Figure 1: Disappearing Wild Fruit Himbutu (Salacia reticulata)
domesticated and
are widely focused as
commercial crops. These lesser-known fruits were an
integral part of the Sri Lankan rural lifestyle and have
enhanced the country while providing their daily
therapeutic supplement in order to lead a healthy
lifestyle without any extra cost. The leaves and fruits
of kovakka (Coccinia grandis) have the power to
stabilize high blood pressure, while additionally
known for their detoxification capability as blood
purifiers (Jayawardhana, 2014b). Also, guava has
been considered as a “super fruit” because it is rich
in fiber and vitamins A, B, and C (Fonseka, 2008).
On the other hand, the Ceylon olive (Elaeocarpus
22 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
indigenous to Sri Lanka. Rural communities have
been using the fruit as a natural form of hair care for
generations. Many personal care manufacturers are
currently using extracts of weralu to formulate antidandruff shampoos (Jayawardhana, 2014a).
Unfortunately, the present generation (already
accustomed to modern technology) is not prepared
to carry the indigenous varieties or knowledge over
to the next generation, or do not even know how to
identify the basic native plants and their properties.
Similarly, a wide range of lesser-known traditional
food plant species are also disappearing rapidly
due to continuous clearance of forest cover and
are destroyed as ‘weeds’ due to lack of awareness.
In 2002, the Native Forest Foundation (NFF) in
Sri Lanka conducted a baseline survey on the
availability of such species in the rural elderly
community and identified that there is a wealth of
information on traditional knowledge associated
with plants and trees, but there has been a
dramatic loss of such knowledge and species. Due
to this exercise, the Founder of NFF decided to
dedicate personal land for the purpose due to nonavailability of resources to purchase new land and
was in the process of establishing a mini-arboretum
on a one-acre plot of land in 2005. This initiative was
mainly to serve the purpose of recovering loss of
natural resources in wild fruit and selected medicinal
plant categories in collection, conservation, and
propagation with the establishment of a field gene
bank as a conservation and education unit with
over 200 such species.
In addition, the goal is to provide a facility where
people can learn, exchange, and research
with hands-on experience from local traditional
knowledge bearers to the next generation. Thus,
NFF has selected Sunday Schools, which are places
regularly visited by children and are typically
endowed with sufficient space for the purpose
by their local partners in order to get the young
generation involved in regenerating their interest
and creating wider awareness on the value of
available local natural resources.
Our rationale for selecting Sunday Schools is
mainly due to easy implementation at a practical
level since there is extreme difficulty in entering
primary schools with extensive red tape to obtain
approvals and poor interest of the children during
school hours as they are in a rat race to achieve
their educational goals in a highly competitive
environment. NFF conducts programmes irrespective
of religious interests in churches, temples, and all
other religious institutions where there is adequate
land space available. In addition, NFF is in the
process of introducing the concept of “Wild Fruits for
All” in building up a small orchard with 15-20 lesser
known species by incorporating traditional home
remedies as a part of reawakening the ancestral
wisdom amongst the young generation in the future.
Figure 2: Educating Children on Conservation of Plants
(photo credit Damitha Rajapakse)
Therefore, proper education that includes
transmission of knowledge for attitudes and
practice is a prerequisite in promoting traditional
native plants. In this process, NFF promotes active
participation of the present generation with handson exercise in a “Field Gene Bank” to collect
lesser-known wild fruit plants and to propagate
and popularize them to show the importance of
conservation. NFF also covers sustainable utilization
and creates new income avenues as a valuable
resource for the benefit of the future generation of
the country. Furthermore, another component of the
arboretum is propagation of these species as ex-situ
conservation plots in Sunday Schools, benefited with
the existence of 4Bs (Bees, Butterflies, Birds, & Bats).
In 2009, the Tear Fund (UK) recognized the
arboretum and its activities when selecting their
inspired individual and fellowship programme (www.
inspiredindividuals.org) with necessary assistance to
extend the plant propagation in Sunday Schools for
a period of 3 years. NFF has been able to conduct
over 114 interactive awareness sessions in 62 Sunday
Schools covering over 2400 students by distributing
another 2500 plant species with 62 agricultural
motivational kits during this period. The Tear Fund
further generously assisted in putting up a building
by incorporating traditional ecological architectural
concepts to accommodate the volunteers,
students, library,
and administrative
unit.
In addition, the
arboretum has
been assisting both
local and foreign
students to fulfill
their academic
dissertations in
Anthropology,
Environmental
Figure 3: Children are a part of the Arboretum
Science,
(photo credit Damitha Rajapakse)
Ethnobotany, and
Agriculture. “The Significance of Sihalese Buddhist
Cultural Beliefs and Concepts of Sacred in the
Conservation of Plants in Sri Lanka” was one of the
remarkable dissertations carried out by a student at
the University of Kent (UK) in 2003 in association with
NFF.
Furthermore, the arboretum is providing a venue
for foreign volunteers who are keen on working
with the younger generation in plant conservation.
Over 60 foreign volunteers from different parts of the
world have contributed with their resources so far.
At present, NFF has a collection of over 60 species
of wild fruits and another 72 species of medicinal
plants; they have collected a broad spectrum of
traditional knowledge pertaining to plants and
trees in Sri Lanka; and joined the global network
of the Sacred Seeds sanctuaries in 2013 (http://
sacredseedssanctuary.org/gardens/native-forestfoundation-gampaha-sri-lanka).
The program is further expected to collect another
40 species of wild fruits, compiling and publishing the
traditional knowledge booklet, to establish a plant
nursery in order to propagate the plants amongst
Sunday Schools; and to seek opportunities to build
up partnership or collaboration to further expand
the activities in a more professional manner in the
future.
Damitha Rajapakse has more than 30 years’ experience
in Fast Moving Consumer Goods categories with a
diverse product range of pharmaceuticals, personal
care, and nutrition in two large multinationals as a
marketer. He is actively involved in community based
initiatives to protect and conserve local cultures and
native plants, particularly in the areas of ethnobotany,
traditional healing, conservation, and childhood
learning. He is presently in the process of building up
a mini arboretum plant resource center with native
wild fruits and medicinal plants and documentation of
traditional knowledge associated with native plants in
Sri Lanka. [email protected]
[email protected]
References continued on page 25
Spring 2016 | 23
Learning to Adapt
by Atlanta Duncan
Community herbalists have experiential, handson relationships to the ecosystems they live in and
the plants they use for healing, and thus can play
a critical role in protecting “At-Risk” medicinals.
They also have the dual responsibility of being
both educators and medicine-makers within their
community. Federal GMP regulations make it
difficult to operate as such, favoring big industry to
small scale medicine production. This is historically a
problem for industries that utilize natural resources,
and much discussion is taking place around this
topic online.
With the technological boom and the
incomprehensible effect that the internet has
on communication, demand is driven by what
is trending. Successful marketing becomes an
ethical question when trying to support ourselves as
herbalists, growers, or wildcrafters. Herbalists notice
trends in plant populations and demand, oftentimes
before they are addressed by government
agencies. Stephen Foster describes noticing a
decline in echinacea populations along roadsides
long before Fish and Wildlife addressed it (Gladstar
and Hirsch, Planting the Future).
Backyard Roots, a collective of gardeners and
herbalists based out of Western Massachusetts, was
able to produce enough ashwagandha (Withania
somnifera) for all their members, family, and
friends on an abandoned urban lot. We also need
more research and anecdotal exchange around
potential plentiful adaptogens in our regions–for
example, local abundant Aralias, as well as bull
briar (Smilax rotundifolia) that thickets much of the
northeast.
Of notable interest is Vermont herbalist Larkin
Bunce’s claim that the pharmaceutical industry
has not yet found their pharmaceutical analog to
recreate the adaptogenic effect. This is concerning
indicating future risk of over-harvesting. Of course,
this is already well underway with American ginseng
(Panax quinquefolius). Adaptogens fit the profile of
the high-stress, type A lifestyle of the economically
advantaged who in-turn influence demand.
Strategies for “better education of herb consumers”
should be a topic in this dialogue (Ryan Drum, The
Ethics of Wildcrafting).
We need to grab technology by the horns in the
form of social media networking, community list
serves, podcasts, online periodicals such as this,
Anticipating the demand of Echinacea angustifolia
and physical meet-ups that utilize the internet in
due to its effectiveness, Billie Potts writes “Since this
order to connect and share
herb is so effective against the
resources and supplies under
contemporary resistant strains
the radar of the big-wigs. A
of bacteria, it is important that
more low-tech and rewarding
we do not develop resistance
practice is to become pen pals
to echinacea, too” (Billie Potts,
with other herbalists in other
Witches Heal). In the wrong hands,
regions, exchanging information
this knowledge is dangerous.
as well as supplies on a peerto-peer level. This is also a great
“The promising results of...studies
way to form intergenerational
[regarding chaga (Inonotus
connections. I had success
obliquus)] are fueling the
with this trading Indian warrior
increasing demand for chaga
Indian warrior (Pedicularis densiflora)
(
and might eventually lead to
Pedicularis
densiflora) harvested
(photo credit Quinton Allan)
even greater demand if large
from an abundant California
pharmaceutical companies come to view chaga as slope with herbalists I know and trust for Vermont
a resource for extraction of particular compounds.”
chaga. We can notice and protect “trending”
(David Pilz, Chaga and other Fungal Resources).
plants by cultivating them ourselves, identifying and
researching potential analogs, and bartering with
other herbalists who grow or harvest in ecosystems
Tick-borne illness and other fast-spreading infectious
different than our own. Hit me up!
diseases have been a hot topic lately, woven into
the fabric of climate change. Herbal antibiotics
Atlanta Duncan is a community herbalist from Rhode
will continue to be in demand as bacteria
Island currently living on the Olympic Peninsula in
develop resistance and adapt. Growing our
own andrographis (Andrographis paniculata), for
Washington. She specializes in tick borne illness and
example, or bartering for Oregon grape (Berberis
elder care, shares her knowledge and resources within
aquifolium) from a northwest herbalist are simple
her queer community, grows her own medicinal herbs,
strategies to consider.
and engages with health empowerment and justice
Adaptogens are in vogue as well, and we should
be working at cultivating our favorites locally.
24 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
on a personal and social level. You can contact her
at [email protected] or follow her on
Instagram @avantgardenz.
Smilax continued from page 21
Sri Lanka continued from page 23
My Smilax Conservation Project in Costa Rica is about
five years old. We currently have one cuculmeca
plant and a few different sarsaparillas. I planted many
which did not turn out to be tuberous and many
more which did not survive the transplant. Creating
an ethnobotanical sanctuary has taught me the
importance of going beyond propagation, identifying
the original stewards of the plants, and collecting
as many details as possible about variations,
environmental factors, and indications of use.
References
As our plants grow, our project combines scientific
research with the stories still told by those local
residents, who have always shared the forest with
our plants. We will know our success when our
grandchildren still have this plant in their gardens and
still know how to use it.
Rachel Thomas teaches traditional medicine at her
wellness center & plant sanctuary Hidden Garden
in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. She works with the
community to conserve local medicinal plants and
provides an academic environment for the advancement
of Caribbean ethnobotany. Visit Hidden Garden at
http://hiddengarden.co/conservation/smilax/ to read
more about the Smilax Conservation Project and to
access the Online Smilax Research Library, including
cited references and more.
References
Arvigo, Rosita & Balick, Michael 1998. Rainforest
Remedies: One Hundred Healing Herbs of Belize.
Lotus Press, Wisconsin. p.73.
Ferrufino, Lilian Dra., 2015. La Zarzaparrilla y la
Cuculmeca y su importancia económica en el siglo XV y XVI . https://blogzamorano.wordpress.
com/2015/05/28/zarzaparrilla-cuculmeca-plantassiglo-xv-xvi
Bandaranayke, W.M., Sultainbawa M.U.S., Weerasekara S.C and Balasubramaniam, S. The Sri
Lanka Forester. (4 Jan-Dec 1974) Vol XI Nos 3 & 4
New Series by Sri Lanka Forest Department
Fonseka S.De. (2008) Pleasure of a Guava. Lanka
Newspapers.com. 25 Feb 2008, page 3
Jayawardhana, S (2014a) A Sri Lankan fruit with
global potential, Sunday Observer, March 2014,
Jayawardhana, S. (2014b) Kovakka for Type 2
Diabetes, The Island, 8 April 2015, Sri Lanka.
Ministry of Forestry and Environment of Sri Lanka
(1999) Biodiversity Conservation in Sri Lanka, A
Framework of Action, P15
Rajapakse, U. (1978) Traditional Food Plants in Sri
Lanka. Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research
and Training Institute, Sri Lanka.
Only if we understand, can we care.
Only if we care, we will help. Only if we
help, we shall be saved. -Jane Goodall
WELCOME TO
Our Common Roots Radio
Programmed music to your
daily energetics, with four points of
meditation, sprinkled with plant
knowledge and articles to inspire.
Ferrufino-Acosta L. 2010. Taxonomic revision of the
genus Smilax (Smilacaceae) in Central America and the
Caribbean Islands. Willdenowia 40, pp. 227-280.
Guzman Paredo, Miguel, 1985. Medical Practices in
Ancient America. Ediciones Euroamericanas, Mexico
D.F. p. 55.
Hancock, John, M.D., 1829. The Properties and Preparation of the Rio Negro Sarsaparilla and of the Angustura Bark. J. Wilson, London. pp. 12, 23.
Rodriguez, Luis Angel, 1959. La Ciencia Medica de
los Azteca. Editorial Hispano Mexicano, Mexico.
Siméon, Rémi, 1977. Diccionario de la Lengua Náhuatl
o Mexicana. Siglo XXI, Mexico.
Taylor, Leslie, 2005. The Healing Power of Rainforest Herbs: A Guide to Understanding and Using Herbal
Medicinals. Square One Publishers, New York.
Winterbottom, Anne, 2015. Oxford Journals Social
History of Medicine 28 (1): 22-44.
Spring 2016 | 25
The Original Medicinal Plant
Gatherers & Conser vationists
by M. Kat Anderson USDA NRCS
as well as the inevitable injuries and sicknesses,
In Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, a television series that
Native people often provided the explorers and
ran from 1993 to 1998, the Cheyenne taught a white
settlers with herbal medicines that proved crucial
lady doctor about various kinds of native medicinal
to their survival. The journals of some of our great
herbs that could be used to treat human ailments
explorers, fur trappers, surgeons, and
in the frontier town of Colorado
naturalists–such as Meriwether Lewis and
Springs, Colorado in the 1860s.
William Clark, Peter Kalm, Jedediah Strong
The generosity and compassion
Smith, Leonard McPhail, and William
shown by the Cheyenne made
Bartram–contain references to knowledge
an impression on many viewers.
of food and medicinal native plants
Although the series was fictional,
gained from American Indians and the use
key elements were based on
of these plants to combat sickness and
historical fact, and notable
injury.
among these was the transfer
of medicinal plant knowledge
During the California Gold Rush, miners
from Native Americans to white
subsisted on diets of bacon, beans,
settlers. Not only were American
and coffee. Thus, showing symptoms of
Indians the first to discover the
scurvy, they were introduced by foothill
healing properties of many of
tribes of the Sierra Nevada to Claytonia
the medicinal herbs native to
Figure 1. Goldenseal (Hydrastis
perfoliata, an edible plant that restored
North America that we’ve come canadensis). One example of the
them
to health. Subsequently found to
to know so well–goldenseal
many medicinal plant species
be
rich
in Vitamin C, this plant came to
(Hydrastis canadensis),
that the American Indians gave
be called “miner’s lettuce.” During the
echinacea (Echinacea spp.),
non-Indian settlers. Adapted from
a 19th century painting.
Civil War, native plants such as sassafras
blue cohosh (Caulophyllum
(Sassafras albidum), partridgeberry
thalictroides), yerba santa
(Mitchella repens), dogwood (Cornus spp.), tulip
(Eriodictyon californicum), and cascara sagrada
trees (Liriodendron tulipifera),
(Frangula purshiana), to name just a few–they
and the leaves and bark of white
also passed along this knowledge to European
oaks (Quercus alba) provided
missionaries, pioneers, and settlers, who integrated it
field surgeons with a repertoire
into traditional American medical care.
of remedies to treat wounded
soldiers; they wouldn’t have known
In an era before antibiotics and knowledge of the
that these plants could be used to
causes of infectious diseases, Native American
staunch bleeding, ward off infection,
herbal wisdom provided a crucial foundation for the
building of a new nation. Every American schoolchild reduce fever, set broken bones, and
relieve pain had Indians not shared
knows that the native foods that Indians provided
this knowledge over the previous
to early colonists kept them from starving; it is less
centuries.
well known that Indians also gave colonists native
herbs that helped them survive disease, injury,
European immigrants to the
nutritional deficiencies, complications of childbirth,
New World were not completely
and other maladies. Native plant cures for ailments
dependent on Native Americans
such as constipation, lung problems, snakebites,
for herbal medicines. Beneficiaries
burns, and rheumatism, first developed by Indians,
of a rich herbalist tradition in Europe
were used very early by American doctors. Witch
and unfamiliar with the virtues of
hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) for soothing strained
the plants native to the New World,
muscles, salve of balsamroot (Balsamorhiza
they brought with them cuttings and
sagittata) for healing flesh wounds, red trillium
(Trillium erectum) root to ease pain during childbirth, seeds of favorite medicinal plants.
blue cohosh as an antispasmodic, and black cohosh They applied eyebright (Euphrasia
officinalis) to heal inflamed eyes,
(Actaea racemosa) as a female and pregnancy
treated coughs and colds with
medicine are just a few of the plants the Indians
Figure 2. Cascara sagrada (Fra
horehound (Marrubium vulgare),
gave the colonists and pioneers.
purshiana). One of the most imp
constipation around the world t
and used St. John’s wort (Hypericum
by the American India
perforatum) as an anti-inflammatory. medicine
In the 1800s, as westward expansion exposed
century painting.
Americans of European descent to new landscapes, It was this familiarity with plants’
26 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
medicinal qualities that led them to seek herbal
knowledge from Indians and to readily incorporate
into their medicine cabinets the native plants about
which they learned.
Just as the Old World species brought to the shores
of America, both deliberately and accidentally,
rapidly spread through New World ecosystems to
create new ecological mixtures, so too did medicinal
herbs with both native and European origins mingled
together in the pharmacopeias of the young nation.
In the first U.S. Pharmacopeia issued in 1820, almost
half of the substances were native plants used by
American Indians, such as American senna (Senna
marilandica formerly Cassia marilandica) and
Canada fleabane (Conyza canadensis formerly
Leptilon canadense). The balance were non-native
plants brought from the old European homelands or
other continents.
In the early years of our nation, therefore, Americans
had access to a very broad range of medicinal
herbs derived from the floras of two continents and
representing the combined wisdom of two distinct
herbal traditions, each going back millennia. For
American Indians, however, this mixing process had
one unfortunate aspect: their contributions to this
considerable collection of medicines were largely
ignored and forgotten. This oversight continues to
the present day. Over 200 drugs that have been
or still are listed in the Pharmacopeia of the United
States or the National Formulary were first used
by American Indians, but neither
reference acknowledges this fact.
Thus, the tremendous benefits
we’ve derived from indigenous
knowledge of native plant
medicines go largely uncredited.
angula
portant herbal remedies for
that was given to modern
ans. Adapted from a 19th
Many native medicinal plants have
proven so valuable that they’ve
been subjected to unsustainable
commercial harvest for decades
and, in some cases, centuries. With
the added pressures of habitat
destruction, fire suppression, and
climate change, many of these
native medicinal species–such
as cascara, American ginseng
(Panax quinquefolius), slippery elm
(Ulmus rubra), and goldenseal–are
becoming rare. Efforts to conserve
such species and ensure they will
be available in the future bump
up against a variety of barriers, not
the least of which is a basic lack of
scientific knowledge of the species
involved, the ecological effects of
their harvest, and the management
strategies that may ensure longterm product sustainability. We
really know very little about the basic reproductive
biology, ecology, and habitat requirements of most
of these species and have little baseline data on
distribution, phenology, and population size. Without
fundamental ecological knowledge of these species
and no organized sustain-yield management
program, it is no wonder that the growth in
popularity of and demand for certain medicinal
species results in population declines.
To find a way forward out of this impasse, we can
look to the same people who gave us knowledge
of these species’ uses and value in the first place.
Besides curating tremendous knowledge about the
use of native medicinal herbs, American Indians
worked out sustained yield practices attuned
to the reproductive biology of the plants and
developed management practices that maintained
their habitats. Both harvest and management
were based on an ethical system founded on
restraint, a long-term time perspective, and a
body of ecological knowledge derived from close
empirical observation. We can learn a great deal
from these indigenous practices, integrating them
into conservation plans and combining them with
western science-based strategies as appropriate for
the local context.
A specific example helps to illustrate how native
management and harvest practices can be used in
the conservation of a threatened medicinal plant.
The bark from cascara sagrada has been used to
treat constipation for millennia in the northwestern
U.S., and since people of European descent learned
of its qualities about 125 years ago, its use has
spread around the globe. It has been called “the
most widely used cathartic on earth”.
This large shrub or small tree up to 10 meters high
grows as far north as British Columbia and south
to California and Arizona and east into Idaho,
Montana, and Wyoming. A member of the
Rhamnaceae, cascara has a gray to dark reddish
brown bark that is smooth to longitudinally furrowed
or scaly. The glossy green, elliptic-shaped leaves
are prominently veined and have finely toothed
margins. It occurs below 2000 m. in multiple habitats
from semi-dry to wet, including coniferous forests
of Sitka spruce, western hemlock, Douglas-fir,
ponderosa pine, mixed evergreen forests, hardwood
forests, montane chaparral, coastal scrub, stream
drainages and ravines, swampy bottomlands with
red alder and vine maple, and ecotones between
forest and prairie or open wetland. When growing in
deep, rich soils in low river bottoms, flats, valleys, and
borders of streams, it will reach tree size; on drier sites
with gravelly or sandy soils it retains a shrub-like form.
Cascara bark was an important laxative for treating
constipation among many tribes such as the Cowlitz,
Green River, Jamestown and Port Gamble S’Klallam,
Spring 2016 | 27
Lower Elwha Klallam, Lummi, Makah, Quileute,
Quinault, Skagit, Skokomish, Squaxin, and Swinomish
tribes of Washington, the Kootenai and Flathead
tribes of western Montana, the Colville, Kalapuya,
and Klamath tribes of Oregon and the Karuk, Maidu,
Miwuk, Tolowa, and Yurok tribes of California. For
some of these tribes, cascara was more than just
another cathartic; it reportedly restored the bowel
to a healthier tone, which made repeated doses
unnecessary.
The plant was introduced to modern medicine in
1877 by a physician from Colusa, Dr. Bundy, and
became official in the Pharmacopeia of the United
States in 1890. Early advertisers touted cascara as
being among “the finest medicinal herbs”. By the
early 1900s cascara was being used all around the
world.
Figure 3. An example of an early 20th
century advertisement touting the
efficacy of a medicine, in this case
cascara sagrada, that in turn heightened
its popularity worldwide—often without
giving American Indians credit.
Despite its long-term
indigenous use, there
were plenty of cascara
sagrada trees when
the first missionaries and
non-Indian settlers tried
it. Cascara remained
abundant because
of the way indigenous
people harvested it.
“Native Americans
gather cascara bark
by taking small strips
off the main trunk or by
cutting a single limb so
that it doesn’t harm or
kill the tree” says Linda
Wiechman, Lower Elwha
Klallam, (pers. comm.
2014).
“It’s going to be there the next year and the year
after and the year after,” says Ken Merritt of the
Jamestown S’Klallam (pers. comm. 2014). “It heals
over very fast. So you can keep re-harvesting for
the bark if you needed to… And it would always
produce the berries. And so it’s a beautiful never
ending cycle.” Another method of sustainable
harvest is to coppice the tree, pruning the top to
leave a tall stump about four feet high from which
multiple stems will sprout, each yielding usable bark
in several years.
In the early part of the twentieth century, cascara
was in great demand as the active ingredient in
many kinds of commercial laxatives. Many nonIndian people became cascara bark peelers, going
after trees that had attained large size and ignoring
those smaller than a few inches in diameter. Some
learned the sustainable harvest methods of the
Indians, but the windfall of a big one-time harvest
often outweighed long-term considerations. Most
28 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
harvesters cut the bark all the way around the tree–
killing it. Even areas that were harvested sustainably
were subject to “pirating,” the wasteful practice of
skinning trees only as high as could be reached from
the ground. Those trees died–their large amounts of
remaining bark unsalvageable. After many decades
of unsustainable harvest, larger and older cascara
trees became uncommon. The bone-white skeletons
of dead cascara trees still mark landscapes in parts
of the Northwest, testaments to the thoughtless and
destructive harvesting of the trees. Today cascara
sagrada is included on the United Plant Savers’ “ToWatch” list because it is “currently in decline due
to expanding popularity and shrinking habitat and
range.”
Cascara sagrada has not recovered in part because
of continuing global demand for its bark, but also
because the plant communities in which it grows are
no longer as conducive to growth and reproduction
as they once were. Cascara needs sunlight for
optimum growth, and in many habitats the trees are
too dense and the canopy too closed to allow for
the necessary light levels. These conditions are the
result of widespread fire suppression and a cessation
of the regular burning of the forests, wetlands,
and prairies once practiced by the tribes of the
Northwest.
The Indians burned to keep the forests open and
to keep the wetlands and prairies from being
encroached by trees. In so doing, they maintained
ideal habitats for many useful plant species,
including cascara. Indian burning diversified the
forest, creating a forest–prairie or forest–wetland
mosaic that supported a richer variety of plants
and animals than might otherwise occur. Cascara
does particularly well in very open forests and in
the ecotones, or edge zones, between forest and
open wetland or prairie; these are precisely the
kinds of habitats created and maintained by regular
burning–and the ones that disappear along with
anthropogenic fire. Cascara not only thrives in
habitats subjected to fire, it can re-sprout from the
root crown if the top is burned in a low-intensity fire–
an adaptation shared by many plants that evolved
in a context of frequent fire.
Cascara sagrada and other native medicinal plants
Drying cascara sagrada (Rhamnus purshiana)
Courtesy of the Museum of History & Industry, Seattle, Washington.
will be around for future generations to use if we
can begin to put Native Americans’ sustainable
harvest and management methods into practice on
a broad scale. Already, partnerships between tribes
and public and private landowners have yielded
successful conservation projects and programs.
Together with tribes, we can combine Indians’
traditional ecological knowledge with Western-style
scientific investigation to build the knowledge base
and management practices needed to perpetuate
not only medicinal plants but also other valuable
cultural resources. One of the important goals of
management would be to work out methods and
techniques for calculating harvest regimes that lead
to sustained yields of plant populations. This would
focus on individual species’ reproductive biology
and growth response, but it would do so within the
broader context of habitat quality, the conservation
of other ethnobotanically important plants, and the
health of the land. Besides representing our best
chance of success, incorporating Indians’ harvest
and management practices into our conservation
efforts will finally honor Native Americans’ important
role in enriching the practice of American medicine.
Note: Plant scientific names were updated using the
PLANTS database http://plants.usda.gov.
References
Anderson, M.K. 2009. The Ozette Prairies of Olympic National Park: Their Former Indigenous Uses and
Management. Final Report to Olympic National
Park, Port Angeles, Washington.
Anonymous, circa late 1800s-early 1900s. The Great
California Wonderland and Its Products: Nature’s Own
Remedy. Guggenheimer, Weil & Co., lith.
Bethard, W. 2004. Lotions, Potions, and Deadly
Elixirs: Frontier Medicine in the American West.
Roberts Rinehart Publishing, Lantham, Maryland.
Cech, R. 2000. Cascara Sagrada Rhamnus purshiana. Pages 88-92 in: Planting the Future: Saving
our Medicinal Herbs, R. Gladstar and P. Hirsch (eds.).
Healing Arts Press, Rochester, Vermont.
Cirillo, C. and R. Capasso. 2015. Constipation and
Botanical Medicines: An Overview. Phytotherapy
Research 29:1488-1493. Published online 14 July 2015
in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).
Compton, M.S. 2000. Herbal Gold: The Complete
guide to the Use, Lore, and Application of Over 90
Essential Medicinal Herbs. Llewellyn Publications. St.
Paul, Minnesota.
Dary, D. 2008. Frontier Medicine: From the Atlantic
to the Pacific 1492-1941. Random House, Inc., New
York, N.Y.
Driver, Harold E. 1969. Indians of North America, 2nd
ed. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Fluharty, S., D. Hockema, and N. Norris. 2010.
Ethnobotany of the Coquille Indians: 100 Common
Cultural Plants. Coquille Indian Tribe, Cultural Resources Program.
Gunther, E. 1973. Ethnobotany of Western Washington: The Knowledge and Use of Indigenous Plants by
Native Americans. Seattle: University of Washington
Press.
Habeck, R.J. 1992. Frangula purshiana. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Available:
http//www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/.
Hart, J. 1976. Montana: Native Plants and Early
Peoples. Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana.
Henkel, A. and G.F. Klugh. 1904. Golden Seal. U.S.
Department of Agriculture Bureau of Plant Industry–
Bulletin No. 51. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Kalm, P. 1966. Peter Kalm’s Travels in North America: The English Version of 1770. Adolph B. Benson
(ed.). 2 vols. Dover, New York, N.Y.
Lloyd, J.U. and C.G. Lloyd. 1911. History of the Vegetable Drugs of the Pharmacopeia of the United States.
Bulletin of the Lloyd Library of Botany, Pharmacy and
Materia Medica 18(4):68-69.
Excerpt from the
History of the Vegetable Drugs
of the U.S.P.
written by J. U. Lloyd
Published by The Southwest School of
Botanical Medicine www.swsbm.com
This writer [J. U. Lloyd], to-day, believes with
heartfelt eamestness, that even the unlettered
aborigines of all lands whose products serve
civilization, are entitled to civilization’s
lasting obligations. The story is a common
one. Necessity of environment, or accident, led
primitive man into a search of nature’s secrets.
Observant pioneers, or adventurers, applied
the discoveries of the aborigines to their own
domestic uses. The man of commerce served
next his part in the distribution of such drugs
and foods, and finally systematic, professional
students further elaborated these products that,
but for the empiricist of the past, preceded by
the aborigines in the time beyond, might not
otherwise be known.
Spring 2016 | 29
Medicinal Plant Conser vation & Use
at Tafi Atome Sacred Grove
by Alison Ormsby & Robert Kwaku Egbeako
On the continent of Africa, it is estimated that 60
to 95% of people “depend on traditional medicine
for their primary health care needs” (van Andel
et al., 2012). Medicinal plants are under pressure
around the world, with thousands of species in
trade globally, including for example, African cherry
(Prunus africana) and ginseng (Panax spp.) (Baeg
and So 2013; Payyappallimana and Subramanian,
2015). Although these species do not occur in
Ghana, they provide useful models to avoid similar
possible over-harvesting of other highly desirable
species of medicinal plants.
Sacred forests or groves are community-managed
natural areas that have local cultural significance.
These groves may also contain medicinal plants,
with associated community rules about by whom,
when, and how these plants can be harvested.
the utilization of plants and animals for medicinal
purposes, [and this] is closely related with their
culture and ritual practices, which have been
developed by their forefathers.” In a study of five
sacred groves in Kodagu (Karnataka, India), Boraiah
et al. (2003) found that 60% of the regenerating
species (136 of 241 species) were medicinally
important.
Our research was conducted in the community of
Tafi Atome in Ghana in 2006 as part of a larger study
on the sacred grove at Tafi Atome (see Ormsby
and Edelman 2010; Ormsby 2012a; Ormsby 2012b).
This article reports on unpublished data about the
medicinal plant use from the Tafi Atome sacred
grove. Our analysis sheds light on the potential role
of community-managed sacred groves in medicinal
plant conservation globally.
Research site description
Ghana has a long history of community protection
of sacred forests, which may contain burial grounds, The village of Tafi Atome has over 1000 residents
and is located within the Hohoe District
be a source of water resources,
of the Volta Region of Ghana (Figure
and hold local spiritual significance
1). The language widely spoken in Tafi
(Campbell, 2005; Chouin, 2002; Lebbie
Atome and throughout the region
and Freudenberger, 1996; Dorm-Adzobu
is Ewe. The village is surrounded by
et al., 1991). Ghana has more than 1,900
a sacred grove of approximately 28
sacred groves; the size of groves ranges
hectares. The grove is a dry semifrom less than one hectare to over one
deciduous forest and lies within the
hundred hectares (Ntiamoa-Baidu,
forest-savannah transitional zone. Both
1995). Within these sacred areas, often
grassland and cultivated farmland
referred to as fetish groves, taboos on
immediately surround the sacred
hunting or using particular species offer
grove.
protection to these natural resources
(Amoako-Atta, 1995).
The sacred grove is protected by
Around the world, sacred forests have
Figure 1. Location of Tafi Atome
a 2006 Hohoe District bylaw for its
been found to contain a high diversity
Monkey Sanctuary within Ghana
main value as a habitat for its sacred
of medicinally important plants. India,
monkeys. The grove supports the
in particular, has been the focus of
only protected population of true mona monkeys
numerous studies on the botanical diversity of its
(Cercopithecus mona mona) in all of Ghana. The
sacred groves. These sacred groves have been
monkeys are found in the lower and middle layers
found to be especially important for medicinal
of the forest, usually in troops of approximately 12
plants, with almost twice the density of medicinal
plant species of reserve forests in India; nearly 40% of monkeys, feeding on fruits and leaves. They have
a reddish brown back and two white spots on their
these medicinal plant species are unique to sacred
forests (Boraiah et al. 2003). Khumbongmayum et al. tail, with a bluish face. Unlike many sacred groves
found in other countries, there is tourism to the Tafi
(2004, 2005a, 2005b) inventoried 166 sacred groves
Atome community to visit the sacred grove and see
ranging in size from a few trees to 40 hectares
the monkeys.
in Manipur, in the northeast of India and found
that 96% had medicinal value. Some species of
medicinal plants are now only found in these sacred Research methods
During June and July 2006, we conducted semigroves (Khumbongmayum et al. 2005a, 2005b).
structured, open-ended interviews (Figure 2) with 33
The authors (Khumbongmayum et al. 2005b, p.
residents of Tafi Atome (17 men and 16 women). A
1577) explained that the local Meiteis community in
qualitative, ethnographic research approach was
Manipur “depends largely on medicinal plants and
30 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
used, including interviews, participant observation,
and focus groups (Creswell, 1994). In Tafi Atome,
residents generally live near their family members or
clan group. A stratified sampling method (by clan)
was used for interviews. An attempt was made
to include in the research sample representatives
of each clan and an equal number of men and
women. The interviewees were assured of the
confidentiality of their responses upon introduction.
Along with asking basic demographic information,
the questionnaire consisted of open-ended and
closed-ended questions. A wide variety of ages and
occupations were targeted for the interviews. A
group interview was conducted with the Tafi Atome
Tourism Management Committee during and at the
end of the research period to offer feedback. Using
the approach of participant observation, guides
were viewed interacting with tourists.
interviewees (82%) said they use medicinal plants in
general. Of those residents, in response to the followup question, “Which plants and for what ailment/
treatment?” over 35 different species of plants were
named, ranging from cultivated commonly used
plants, including leaves from lemon and orange
trees, to pineapple, African eggplant, avocado,
papaya, mango (bark), and guava. Many residents
described the part of the plant used–leaves, roots,
sap, or bark–and how the treatment is prepared, for
example, by boiling leaves into a tea. Forest species
mentioned included African teak (Milicia excelsia,
locally known as odum), African tulip (Spathodea
campanulata, locally known as adatsigo), and
Afzelia africana, locally known as papawu. The
most common species mentioned was mahogany
(Khaya senegalensis), by 51.5% of respondents. Those
interviewed reported that mahogany bark was
mainly used to treat stomach pains but also used as
a blood tonic and to treat fever.
In 1997, mahogany trees were planted to
demarcate the boundary of the sanctuary in order
to halt encroachment of farmland upon the forest
edge.
Figure 2. Ormsby and Egbeako conducting an interview in Tafi Atome
In addition to general information about the sacred
grove, our research investigated the following
questions: Do you use any medicinal plants from
the grove? Which plants and for what ailment/
treatment? Have you noticed any change in the
availability of these materials over the years?
Results
In the small forest that is the sacred grove of Tafi
Atome, medicinal plants are controlled by a local
bylaw. You are only allowed to harvest a small
amount of the bark of trees, and if harvesting roots,
you are not allowed to cut all of the fibroid roots.
Children under 20 are not allowed to harvest herbs
from the forest. In general, children are not allowed
access to the sacred grove, and women during their
menstrual period cannot enter the grove or dig any
herb in the grove. Strangers and non-residents are
also not allowed to remove anything from the grove.
Local men and the fetish priest are allowed to enter
the forest. During the research period in the community of
Tafi Atome, 33 residents were interviewed, ranging
from age 19 to age 85. The majority of residents
interviewed (60.6%) were born and raised in the
village. In response to the question, “Do you use
any medicinal plants from the grove?” 27 of 33
When residents were asked “Have you noticed any
change in the availability of these materials over
the years?”, two residents reported that it is more
difficult to find larger mahogany trees now because
of the high demand for them, and therefore
they have planted mahogany at their personal
farm. In general, many interviewees responded
that they are cultivating medicinal plants on their
farms. Despite the specific reduction in mahogany
availability, respondents described that the sacred
forest is thicker than before and has been expanded
due to enforcement and reforestation efforts. Most
residents are aware of the significance of using
mango and other plants and herbs for medicine, so
they plant these near their houses.
Discussion, conclusion, and
recommendations
Using medicinal plants can reduce the cost of
medication since community members do not have
to buy plants that are locally grown. Many of the
plants identified during our survey are diminishing in
quantity, thus it would be useful to create a large
community garden to grow the important medicinal
plants.
Because some herbs take only three months to grow
to be ready for harvest, these might be planted
in home or kitchen gardens for immediate use.
Others species take six months to a year, whereas
the tree species take years to reach maturity and a
time when they can be used for medicine. Thus, if
community gardens or forest sanctuaries were to be
planted and used as repositories of local resources/
knowledge, then it would not take very long for
Spring 2016 | 31
some species to grow and be ready for use by
community members. Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES)
in 1995 (Stewart 2003). In response to the high
demand and unsustainable harvest of this species,
Cunningham and Mbenkum (1993) recommend
cultivation in nurseries, including propagation from
forest tree cuttings.
This study in Ghana, along with the case example
of Prunus africana, shows that there is a general
need for restoration planting and harvest limits for
medicinal plants. It is very important that community
members are involved in the selection of plants
raised and management of plant nurseries.
Alison Ormsby has a PhD in Environmental Studies;
her doctoral research focused on people/park
interactions in Madagascar. Alison’s recent research
has investigated the links between culture and
conservation, specifically at sacred forests in Ghana,
India, and Sierra Leone. She teaches Environmental
Studies at the University of North Carolina, Asheville
and is a graduate mentor in Environmental Studies
at Prescott College.
Figure 3 is a mahogany tree planted within a farm
with marks on the trunk showing where bark has been
harvested from the tree. This boundary demarcation
idea was an effective solution to naturally mark the
limits of the sacred grove and to provide a tree that is
in high demand and allow sustainable harvesting of the
bark of the tree.
However, it has been found that publicized
knowledge of medicinal plants in sacred groves
creates risk that unauthorized people (local or from
other areas) enter the grove and harvest the plants,
contrary to community protocols. To protect its
resources, the Tafi Atome sacred grove joined the
Sacred Seeds Sanctuary network in 2015 (Sacred
Seeds 2015). Joining this network recognizes the
medicinal plant resources conserved within the
sacred grove and connects this site with a global
community of plant conservation sanctuaries for
information exchange and support.
Although not found in Ghana, the example of trade
of African wild cherry (Prunus africana) provides a
cautionary tale for species in trade in Ghana and
elsewhere. Long used for traditional medicine to
treat malaria, stomachache, fever, and “men’s
problems,” Prunus africana is a species that has
come under intense pressure in global trade
(Stewart 2003; Cunningham and Mbenkum 1993).
The bark of this tree is used internationally to treat
benign prostatic hyperplasia, a non-cancerous
enlargement of the prostate. According to
Cunningham and Mbenkum (1993), all bark in trade
comes from wild trees in Cameroon, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Kenya, and Madagascar and
is mainly exported to Europe. Due to unsustainable
trade levels, Prunus africana was listed on Appendix
II of the Convention on International Trade in
32 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
Robert Kwaku Egbeako has a diploma in tourism. He
was born in Tafi Atome and has worked for many
years at the Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary as a tour
guide in the sanctuary. He is currently studying for a
degree in health care assistance.
References
Amoako-Atta, B. (1995) “Sacred groves in Ghana”,
pp. 80–95 in van Droste, B., Cultural landscapes of
universal value. Gustav Fischer Verlag, New York.
Baeg, I.H. & S.H. So. 2013. “The world ginseng
market and the ginseng (Korea“. Journal of Ginseng
Research 37(1): 1-7.
Boraiah, K.T., Vasudeva, R., Bhagwat, S.A. &
Kushalappa, C.G. (2003) “Do informally managed
sacred groves have higher richness and regeneration of medicinal plants than state-managed reserve
forests?” Current Science 84(6): 804–808.
Campbell, M.O. (2005) Sacred groves for forest
conservation in Ghana’s coastal savannas: assessing ecological and social dimensions. Singapore
Journal of Tropical Geography 26(2): 151–169.
Chouin, G. (2002) “Sacred groves as historical and
archaeological markers in southern Ghana.” Ghana
Studies 5: 177–196.
Creswell, J.W. (1994) Research Design: Qualitative
and Quantitative Approaches, Sage Publications,
Thousand Oaks, CA.
Cunningham, A.B. & K.T. Mbenkum. (1993) Sustainability of harvesting Prunus Africana bark in Cameroon: a medicinal plant in international trade. People and Plants Working Paper 2. Paris, UNESCO.
Dorm-Adzobu, C., Ampadu-Agyei, O. & Veit, P.G.
(1991) Religious Beliefs and Environmental Protec-
tion: The Malshegu Sacred Grove in Northern Ghana,
World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.
Khumbongmayum, A.D., Khan, M.L. & Tripathi,
R.S. (2005a) “Ethnomedicinal plants in the sacred
groves of Manipur.” Indian Journal of Traditional
Knowledge 4(1): 21–32.
Khumbongmayum, A. D., Khan, M. L. & Tripathi,
R.S. (2005b) “Sacred groves of Manipur, northeast
India: biodiversity value, status and strategies for
their conservation.” Biodiversity and Conservation
14: 1541–1582.
Khumbongmayum, A.D., Khan, M.L. & Tripathi, R.S.
(2004) “Sacred groves of Manipur: ideal centre for
the conservation of biodiversity.” Current Science
87(4): 430–433.
Lebbie, A.R. & Freudenberger, M.S. (1996) Sacred
groves in Africa: forest patches in transition. pp
300–324 in Schelhas, J. and Greenberg, R.S. (eds)
Forest Patches in Tropical Landscapes, Island Press,
Washington, DC.
Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y. (1995) Indigenous vs. Introduced biodiversity conservation strategies: the
case of protected area systems in Ghana, African
Biodiversity Series, 1, Biodiversity Support Program,
Washington, DC.
Ormsby, A. (2012a) Cultural and Conservation
Values of Sacred Forests in Ghana, pp. 335-350 in
Pungetti, G., Oviedo, G. and Hooke, D. (eds) Sacred
Species and Sites: Guardians of Biocultural Diversity,
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Ormsby, A. (2012b) Perceptions of Tourism at
Sacred Groves in Ghana and India. RASAALA: Recreation and Society in Africa, Asia and Latin America
3(1): 1-18.
Ormsby, A. & C. Edelman. (2010) CommunityBased Ecotourism at Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary, a Sacred Natural Site in Ghana. pp. 233-243
in Verschuuren, B. et al. (eds.) Sacred Natural Sites:
Conserving Nature and Culture. London: Earthscan.
Payyappallimana, U. & S.M. Subramanian. 2015.
Traditional Medicine. pp. 180-199 In Romanelli et al.
(eds.), Connecting Global Priorities: Biodiversity and
Human Health. UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya.
Sacred Seeds. 2015. Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary and Cultural Village. http://sacredseedssanctuary.org/gardens/tafi-atome-monkey-sanctuaryand-cultural-village (accessed Dec. 1, 2015).
Stewart, K.M. (2003) “The African cherry (Prunus
africana): from hoe-handles to the international
herb market.” Economic Botany 57(4): 559-569.
van Andel, T., B. Myren, & S. van Onselen. (2012).
“Ghana’s Herbal Market.” Journal of Ethnopharmacology 140: 368-378.
All the flowers of tomorrow are in the
seeds of today. - Anonymous
Am. Ginseng continued from page: 19
References
Cook, W. 1869. The Physiomedical Dispensatory.
Retrieved online: http://medherb.com/cook/
home.htm. 3/1/16.
Davis, J. and Persons, W. Scott. 2014. Growing
and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal, and other Woodland Medicinals. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society
Publishers.
Ellingwood, F. 1919. The American Materia Medica, Therapeutics, and Pharmacognosy. Retrieved
online: http://www.henriettes-herb.com/eclectic/
ellingwood/index.html. 3/1/16.
Felter, H.W. 1922. The Eclectic Materia Medica,
Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Retrieved from:
http://www.henriettes-herb.com/eclectic/felter/
index.html. 3/1/16.
Light, P. 2015. Personal communication. History
and use of ginseng. 2nd International Ginseng
Expo. December 5, 2015. UNC-Asheville, NC.
Lim, W., Mudge, K.W., and Vermeylen, F. 2005. Effects of population, age, and cultivation methods
on ginsenoside content of wild American ginseng
(Panax quinquefolium). Journal of Agricultural and
Food Chemistry, 53 (22), 8498-8505.
Moermann, D. 1998. Native American Ethnobotany.
Portland, OR: Timber Press, Inc.
Pennsylvannia Certified Organic. nd. PCO Forest
Grown Verification. Retrieved from: https://www.
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Rafenesque, C.S. 1828. Medical Flora; or Manual
of the Medical Botany of the United States of North
America. Retrieved online: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/10237#page/3/mode/1up.
3/1/16.
Taylor, D.A. 2006. Ginseng, the Divine Root: The
Curious History of the Plant that Captivated the
World. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books of Chapel
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Upton, R. (ed.). 2012. American Ginseng Root
Panax quinquefolius L.. American Herbal Pharmacopoeia and Therapeutic Compendium. Scotts
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Winston, D. 2007. Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength,
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Atlantic Books.
If we surrendered to earth’s intelligence
we could rise up rooted, like trees. - Rainer
Maria Rilke
Spring 2016 | 33
“AT-RISK” & “TO-WATCH” LISTS
Statement of Purpose
For the benefit of the plant communities,
wild animals, harvesters, farmers, consumers,
manufacturers, retailers, and practitioners,
we offer this list of wild medicinal plants which
we feel are currently most sensitive to the
impact of human activities. Our intent is to assure the
increasing abundance of the medicinal plants which
are presently in decline due to expanding popularity
and shrinking habitat and range. UpS is not asking for
a moratorium on the use of these herbs. Rather, we
are initiating programs designed to preserve these
important wild medicinal plants.
“At-Risk”
“To-Watch”
AMERICAN GINSENG
Panax quinquefolius
ARNICA
Arnica spp.
BUTTERFLY WEED
Asclepias tuberosa
CASCARA SAGRADA
Rhamnus purshiana
CHAPARRO
Castela emoryi
ELEPHANT TREE
Bursera microphylla
GENTIAN
Gentiana spp.
GOLDTHREAD
Coptis spp.
KAVA KAVA
Piper methysticum (Hawaii only)
LOBELIA
Lobelia spp.
MAIDENHAIR FERN
Adiantum pendatum
MAYAPPLE
Podophyllum peltatum
OREGON GRAPE
Mahonia spp.
PARTRIDGE BERRY
Mitchella repens
PINK ROOT
Spigelia marilandica
PIPSISSEWA
Chimaphila umbellata
RAMPS
Allium tricoccum
SPIKENARD
Aralia racemosa, A. californica
STONEROOT
Collinsonia canadensis
STREAM ORCHID
Epipactis gigantea
TURKEY CORN
Dicentra canadensis
WHITE SAGE
Salvia apiana
WILD INDIGO
Baptisia tinctoria
YERBA MANSA
Anemopsis californica
BLACK COHOSH
Actaea (Cimicifuga) racemosa
BLOODROOT
Sanguinaria canadensis
BLUE COHOSH
Caulophyllum thalictroides
ECHINACEA
Echinacea spp.
EYEBRIGHT
Euphrasia spp.
FALSE UNICORN ROOT
Chamaelirium luteum
GOLDENSEAL
Hydrastis canadensis
LADY’S SLIPPER ORCHID
Cypripedium spp.
LOMATIUM
Lomatium dissectum
OSHA
Ligusticum porteri, L. spp.
PEYOTE
Lophophora williamsii
SANDALWOOD
Santalum spp. (Hawaii only)
SLIPPERY ELM
Ulmus rubra
SUNDEW
Drosera spp.
TRILLIUM, BETH ROOT
Trillium spp.
TRUE UNICORN
Aletris farinosa
VENUS’ FLY TRAP
Dionaea muscipula
VIRGINIA SNAKEROOT
Aristolochia serpentaria
WILD YAM
Dioscorea villosa, D. spp.
34 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
Raising the Next
Generation of Plant
Conser vationists
by Camille Freeman
Future generations will hold the
fate of our medicinal plants in their
hands. What can we do now to
encourage and nurture a deep
love of the environment in the very
young?
After searching the published
evidence and reflecting on my
own experiences as a parent, I’ve
identified four overlapping practices
that encourage children to connect
with and to care about the natural
world (Figure 1).
Before I explain these four practices,
let’s discuss what it means to
connect with nature. A review on the
topic defines connection with nature
as “a stable state of consciousness
comprising symbiotic cognitive,
affective, and experiential traits that
reflect…a sustained awareness of
the interrelatedness between one’s
self and the rest of nature.” (Zylstra,
2014; emphasis mine)
Zylstra and colleagues go on to
note that connection with nature is
a prerequisite for environmentally
responsible behavior that “manifests
as a commitment to action” (Zylstra,
Knight, Esler, & Grange, 2014). By
nurturing a deep connection with
the natural world in our children, we
ensure that conditions are ripe for
future conservationists to emerge
Formal education
The first method of connecting
our children with nature is through
formal education, which may take
the form of structured curricula or
any other type of academic or
theoretical lessons about natural
beings or processes. We know that teaching these
lessons to children also influences their families. One
study found parents of children who participated
in eco-clubs to learn about wetlands knew more
about the topic than parents of children who did
not participate, and family water conservation
increased in these families as well
(Damerell, Howe, & Milner-Gulland,
2013)with the rationale that children
influence the attitudes of their
parents, who will consequently
change their behaviour. Empirical
evidence to substantiate this
suggestion is very limited, however.
For the first time, we use a controlled
trial to assess the influence of
wetland-related environmental
education on the knowledge
of children and their parents and household
behaviour. We demonstrate adults exhibiting greater
knowledge of wetlands and improved reported
household water management behaviour when
their child has received wetland-based education
at Seychelles wildlife clubs. We distinguish between
‘folk’ knowledge of wetland environments and
knowledge obtained from formal education, with
intergenerational transmission of each depending
on different factors. Our study provides the first
strong support for the suggestion that environmental
education can be transferred between generations
and indirectly induce targeted behavioural
changes.
Time Outdoors
Children can also strengthen their connection
with nature by participating in activities outdoors,
surrounded by nature. In a book chapter reviewing
how children develop environmental attitudes
and behavior, the authors note a relationship
between childhood exposure
to nature and “adult attitude
and behavior to natural
environment,” (Wells & Lekies,
2012). A systematic review by
Gill (2014) found that “spending
time in natural areas as a child
is associated with adult proenvironmental attitudes and
feelings of being connected
with the natural world, and is
also associated with a stronger
sense of place.” Yet another study found that taking
students outside was a significant predictor of
environmental literacy (Stevenson, Peterson, Bondell,
Mertig, & Moore, 2013).
Steps to take for medicinal plant conservation
• Take children outdoors as much as possible!
• Host herb walks for local children
• Start a medicinal plant garden and invite
children to assist
• Revisit the same piece of land repeatedly over
the seasons and the child’s life. This can be
a park, a playground, a small backyard, or a
remote wilderness area. Observe the plants and
their habitats throughout the seasons and the
years.
Playful engagement with nature
Juniper, engaged in open exploration. (Photo by Camille Freeman)
Steps to Take For Medicinal Plant Conservation
• Teach children to identify native medicinal
plants
• Teach children about plant habitats and the
consequences of their destruction
• Cultivate curiosity and an interest in lifelong
education
Next, and perhaps most importantly, children
learn to love nature through direct interaction with
natural environments via unstructured exploration
and play. Gill (2014) observed that “playful
engagement styles” like open exploration, free play,
and child-initiated learning were linked to “positive
environmental attitudes”, while more structured time
outdoors led to more academic benefits. Chawla
(2007) posited that “positive, direct experience” in
outdoor environments during childhood was one
of two factors that dictate whether someone will
actively work to protect the environment as an
adult.
Steps to take for medicinal plant conservation
• Provide spaces and plenty of time for unstructured nature play
• Do not make every trip outdoors a lesson. You do
not always need to actively teach. Do what you
do; the kids will catch on. Unstructured time and
play are important.
• Read Let the Kids Run Wild in the Woods (I highly
recommend this article by Emma Marris in Slate)
Spring 2016 | 35
Mentoring and community
Lastly, children learn to connect deeply with nature
by observing and interacting with trusted family
and community members who are connected
to nature. In the previous section, experience in
outdoor environments during childhood was listed
as one of two factors that dictate whether someone
will actively work to protect the environment as an
adult. The second factor is being taken outdoors
by a close family member or adult (Chawla, 2007).
Some activists feel that the deepest connection
with nature requires mentoring and exposure to
communities that value the environment. Chawla
(2007) recommends the following four behaviors
when spending time with children:
1. Demonstrate your love of the land
2. Express disapproval of environmental
destruction
3. Display simple pleasure derived from spending
time in nature
4. Express fascination and desire to learn about
other living things and/or components of nature.
Steps to take for medicinal plant conservation
• Be a lifelong learner. If you already know
about plants, learn about other pieces of their
environments: the fungi in the soil, the birds that
eat their seeds, the other critters that use them
as a food source, etc.
• Show children your own love of nature. Speak
about respect for plants. Express sadness when
habitats are destroyed.
• Share stories about your own connection with
specific plants or pieces of land. Communicate
about what happened there, as well as your
own family’s traditions.
• Expose children to communities where nature is
honored and valued.
• Expose children to books, songs, and stories that
instill respect, love. and care for nature.
As herbalists and plant lovers, even those of us
who are not parents can welcome children into
our work spaces. We can teach classes specifically
for children, bring them along on wildcrafting
expeditions, hold space for open forest play,
welcome children to events typically designed for
adults or bring our work to schools or co-ops. It is
important to recognize that many children have few
or no role models who embody a deep connection
with nature. We can fill this role simply by being in
the community and expressing our deep respect for
nature. Other children do not have safe spaces or
the opportunity to play outdoors. Inviting children
into our woods and gardens can facilitate lifelong
connection with the environment. By actively
including our youngest community members in
our work as herbalists, we can lay the foundation
36 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
for medicinal plant conservation in generations to
come. I invite you to join me in thinking creatively
about how to make herbal medicine more inclusive
of children in your own community.
Camille Freeman is an herbalist and nutritionist,
specializing in fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum
health. As an associate professor at the Maryland
University of Integrative Health, she teaches
physiology and pathophysiology to students in the
nutrition and herbal medicine programs.
Resources
Chawla, L. (2007). Childhood experiences associated with care for the natural world: A theoretical
framework for empirical results. Children, Youth &
Environments, 17(4), 144–170.
Damerell, P., Howe, C., & Milner-Gulland, E. J.
(2013). Child-orientated environmental education
influences adult knowledge and household behaviour. Environmental Research Letters, 8(1), 015016.
http://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/015016
Gill, T. (2014). The Benefits of Children’s Engagement with Nature: A Systematic Literature Review.
Children, Youth and Environments, 24(2), 10–34.
http://doi.org/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.24.2.0010
Stevenson, K. T., Peterson, M. N., Bondell, H. D.,
Mertig, A. G., & Moore, S. E. (2013). Environmental,
Institutional, and Demographic Predictors of Environmental Literacy among Middle School Children.
PLoS ONE, 8(3), e59519. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0059519
Wells, N. M., & Lekies, K. L. (2012). Children and
Nature: Following the trail to environmental attitudes
and behavior. In Citizen Science: Public Participation
in Environmental Research. Cornell University Press.
Zylstra, M. J., Knight, A. T., Esler, K. J., & Grange, L. L.
L. L. (2014). Connectedness as a Core Conservation
Concern: An Interdisciplinary Review of Theory and
a Call for Practice. Springer Science Reviews, 2(1-2),
119–143. http://doi.org/10.1007/s40362-014-0021-3
American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) and Timber Rattlesnake
(Crotalus horridus horridus). Artwork by Shay Clanton,
www.shayherringclanton.com
UpS Helps Send Kids to Camp
Sassafras Camp adjacent to the Goldenseal
Botanical Sanctuary is an outdoor nature and
arts camp focused on environmental and
ecological education, theater, yoga, art, music,
games, and play. Highlights in 2015 were studying
macroinvertebrates and water quality, medicinal
plant study and salve making, arrowhead
class, Native American storytelling and theater
performances, basket making with Japanese
honeysuckle, daily yoga and meditation, fresh
pasta making and healthy food education, many
art projects including mask making and costume
design, and cooperative games that encouraged
the bonding of the entire camp family.
that by studying some of the plants and animals in
our area and learning about the fragility of each
ecosystem, they develop a greater curiosity in the
natural world and want to treat the plants and
animals with respect and care.
United Plant Savers generously gave need-based
scholarships to those families who couldn’t afford
the full cost, enabling many new children to have
the Sassafras Camp experience and expand their
knowledge of local medicinal plants.
Alana Galt-thesis (known to most as Lonnie), whose
mother started the concept of the Sasafras camp
expresses that one of her greatest joys is to watch
the children’s awareness of the natural world grow
over the week. Many of the children are used to
spending time in the outdoors, and for others this is a
new experience.
Basket making at Sassafras Camp
In one exercise the children go find a place to sit
and connect with nature–a plant, animal, bird song,
etc. and then draw a picture, journal, or write a
poem about thier experience. Here are two of the
poems:
The grass on the ground and the leaves in the
air. I hope I see a hopping hare. The wind on
my face and the breeze in my hair, you should
get out in nature no matter where. – Stanley
Dear Sassafras with a nibbled leaf, you are so
wonderful to me. If I could pick some words to
describe you this is what I’d say: unique and
extraordinary, and not just momentarily–for
even when you’re old you are with your sock,
mitten, and glove. – Harvest
Sassafras Camp in Action
By the end of the week ALL of the children are
showing excitement when they spot a cool insect,
plant, or other nature find. She found that those
children who had not had as much exposure to
nature were even more proud and amazed by their
nature discoveries or with their newfound knowledge
about plants and nature. One boy excitedly brought
her a hatching cicada and the whole group
watched as it shed its nymph exoskeleton. The care
and respect shown to this cicada and all other
creatures found was beautiful to watch. It seems
United Plant Savers would like to thank Clif Bar
Family Foundation for the generous
grant to support our programs and
outreach at the Goldenseal Sanctuary
and to support the Sassafras
Camp. Find out more at http://
clifbarfamilyfoundation.org/GrantsPrograms/Small-Grants
When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he
finds it attached to the rest of the world. - John Muir
Spring 2016 | 37
The Most Precious Medicine At Risk
by Debbie McSweeney
As members of this wonderful organization that fights
to preserve medicine, we know the loss we will face
if we lose some of our most precious resources. We
grow these plants in our backyards or the back forty,
trying to bring them back from near extinction. It is
the part we play–spreading the knowledge of the
importance of this issue. But
there is one medicine that
we have not included. It is
one of the strongest, most
sacred of all medicines,
honey.
There is still great debate over whether neonics
are killing the bees as well as the wild pollinators
like the monarchs. I just came from a meeting with
people from every agency tied to the environment
and the protection of it to hear a professor say in
his introduction of himself, “I tell people that the
neonics are not harming
the bees.” The response
was dead silence and no
comments as we were all
at this meeting to find a
way to start helping the
bees and wild pollinators
This is not a plant. The bee
in our state, mainly
is something else entirely
through education and
and is so entwined with our
increasing habitat in any
medicine that we cannot
way we can. This is a very
have one without the
caustic issue, the one of
other. Without the bee or
chemicals. I have been
pollinators we will not be
giving talks on bees and
able to protect and foster
habitat and had people
the plants we are fighting
walk up later and hand
so hard to save. And, as we
me their business card
Canadian thistle (Cirsium arvense) All pollinators need good
all know, the bees and other medicine!
from a major chemical
pollinators are in trouble. For
company, not offering any
nearly ten years now we have strived to figure out
comment, just a silent “We’re watching everything
what is killing our bees, and as we do so, our losses
you do and say.” I’m not scared anymore. It really
continue to rise. While it used to be common to
gets pretty laughable after a while because you
have 15% loss of your bee hives every year, we have know you must be saying what they don’t want
watched in agony as that number has increased
said. But there are so many people in government
every year to where this past year of 2014 we had
that want to see change and help our friends the
40% average loss of colonies. As an activist for bees
bees, including President Obama, who signed a
and their habitat, I have spoken about this issue time Presidential Memorandum in 2014 demanding that
and again for over 5 years. I keep up with the latest
every agency in our government start looking into
data I can get my hands on, have many friends
how we fix this problem, as it is a Food Security issue.
who are professors on the cutting edge of the fight,
Whatever works!
have traveled to Washington, DC and co-chaired
a Task Force on Bee Friendly Farming–a certification
So as herbalists we know that food and diet are a
program I work with. And with all of this knowledge,
large part of human health. We need the essential
with all I hear from men and women who spend
amino acids to survive. We can help heal with
every day trying to figure out what is happening,
wonderful plant helpers, but lifestyle changes must
doing the time-consuming research, I learn more
be made, especially in the area of diet. The bees
than I want to know. I see how huge the problem
and wild pollinators of this country are losing millions
really is.
of acres a year of food sources to development
and mega farming. As we so desperately try to build
I think Ed Levi, an organic beekeeper and past State more habitat, even more is taken away. Today in
Inspector for Arkansas said it best, “I believe the
the US almost 80% of our honey supplies are coming
honey bees are the canary in the coal mine.” We
from other countries. There simply isn’t enough
know what that means. They took the canaries into
forage, bees, or the product of honey to meet the
the mines to detect the odorless fumes that could
demand from the public. In America we are facing
creep in and kill them. The birds would simply stop
a time of not having as much honey production and
singing or die, telling the miners it was time to leave
just trying to keep our hives alive one more year. This
for fresh air. But we can’t leave for fresh air. We
was the first year we had no honey off of six hives.
cannot run from the insidious problem that is finally
catching up with us in this country and the world.
Think of the lovely description that Rosemary
Gladstar, my teacher, gives in the book Planting the
38 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
Future with the poetry of Neltje Blanchan, 1900. (You
will have to pull your book out here or purchase it to
read the poem!) It describes a love affair between
a bumble bee and an endangered and much
beloved lady’s slipper orchid, Cypripedium spp.
The bumble bee is very important for that precious
flower which is so rare now. Over 75% of all species
of bumblebees in the United States are now gone.
So what came first, the disappearance of the flower
or the disappearance of the bumblebee? And how
do you bring them both back?
whole inside of the hive in this product that is very
highly antiviral and anti- bacterial. We use resins in
our medicine. In current research done in Minnesota,
Dr. Marla Spavin and her team are looking at the
health benefits of this resin for bees and are pushing
beehive manufacturers to rough cut and not sand
the insides of box hives, as this will cause the bees
to cover it in propolis–an antiviral, antibacterial
cocoon for our little friends! Do you know what
surprised them? They analyzed resins in the propolis
they collected to see what the makeup of species
were, and cottonwood (Populus tremuloides) was
most prevalent. Cottonwood is in the Poplar family
and makes great medicine. Do you see all the dots
connecting us together with our medicine and all
the bees and pollinators? We cannot separate
them. It is the ecology of our world, and each day
we are seeing how fully we are all connected
and cannot live without each other. The medicine
plants need the pollinators and so do we, and the
pollinators need the medicine.
In all my research of pollinator habitat and in my
studies with Rosemary, I have learned a parallel
issue. Pollinators lack habitat, food sources, amino
acids they need for survival, and pollen as a source
of protein that provides chemicals that trigger their
little bodies’ detoxification process (they don’t have
a liver, remember). The endangered medicine
plants we fight for are pollinator plants! I’ve spoken
to some of my professors about the possibility of it
being a matter of their medicine being gone. Think
So you need to know that at this time all of this
of echinacea (Echinacea spp.)–an immune booster
research is also shedding an ugly light on the
and so wonderful for our bodies when we are sick,
products we love most from the hive. I will not
and the bees do not have it in their banquet as
eat pollen. I would only consume it if the source is
often. Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), which is
someone I know and who is only collecting in early
the first plant that most creatures go to in the spring,
spring when there are very few agro-chemicals
including us, to help detox from a long winter is
being used. Remember that you might be an
the most important food source for bees after the
organic beekeeper, but bees can fly 1-5 miles in
winter! I often wonder what started the whole ball
search of food and have even been recorded to
rolling here. Did the decline of these most sacred
fly 15 miles when desperate for forage. Unless you
medicines affect our pollinator friends’ health first,
own sections of land or are in a very remote area
and now there are not enough of these pollinators
with no ag production, you cannot control what
to bring the plants back to their health? Bees got
comes back to your hive. They are finding 36 or
hit and took a huge dive in numbers in the 1970s
more chemicals in pollen in a
with European Foul Brood. How
given hive. If it’s in the pollen,
can we say that we know we
it can be in the honey as well.
can extract medicine from these
And the wax is actually a lipid,
plants and not expect that a
a fat. We know fat absorbs
bee or butterfly isn’t getting the
toxins in our body, and we are
medicine in the pollen or nectar?
finding it is doing the same thing
We use the product of their hard
in the hive. Very high levels are
work as a medicine in the form
being found in the wax, and
of pollen and honey. Think of
now some European countries
all the medicine plants a bee
are demanding that their
must pollinate to make a pound
beekeepers introduce new wax
of honey–over 1 million flowers
every single year. The results
are needed. What wonderful
have been healthier bees. This
medicine all packaged and
is not an easy process–wax
ready for us to enjoy! The Native
building takes a lot of energy
Elders of our world learned our
as bees sweat little plates of
medicine from watching the
these lipids to build the wax
animals and what they ate to
with. It takes more energy,
take care of themselves. I feel
and thus more food, and thus
so strongly that we are naive
more forage for them. The
if we think the pollinators do
Bird bath fixed up for pollinators with rocks to prebest wax to use is the wax
not use these plants as medicine vent drowning and a gallon jug with drip emitter.
on honey cappings as it has
themselves. Look at propolis–the
been there the shortest amount of time. Because
lovely concoction that bees seal up their hives
you are buying something that states it is organic
with. It is made from gathering resins from trees
does not mean that there are no chemicals in it.
and plants. In a wild hive in a tree they will coat the
Spring 2016 | 39
While testing wax and pollen chemical counts, yet
another disturbing discovery was made. A chemical
was found in a hive that was pretty isolated and
clean as far as chemicals go. The chemical was a
by-product of PVC pipe manufacturing. The closest
source of that chemical being produced was over
40 miles from the beehive.
As we learned in our master beekeeping course,
bees when flying produce a highly effective
electrostatic charge on their body (very much like
we used to do with a balloon rubbed on our hair
to make it stand up as children). It is one of the
wonderful ways the pollens adhere to their little hairy
bodies for them to pack in their pollen baskets later
for the flight home. They now suspect that bees are
picking up some of these chemicals from the air
as they fly. The canary in the coal mine theory has
never been more evident.
hives in at least a five mile radius. In planting for
our friends, plant the endangered medicines they
love, strong medicine for everyone. Plant trees and
fruit bushes, a variety of forage for them to dine
on; old varieties and wildflowers are preferred.
Plant two sources of pollen and nectar per season
minimally. Supply shallow water bowls filled with
rocks and water. Bees need clean water, too. Don’t
forget habitat in the form of open areas of dirt for
ground bees and tall grassy, unmowed areas for
bumblebees. You will see a remarkable change
quickly when you create this little oasis. We went
from two bumblebees in the first 5 years of living on
the farm to now seeing hundreds at one time! Then
the song birds increased in numbers and species!
Every year I witness 2 to 4 new species of birds on my
little 6-acre farm. The birds start eating the bad bugs
in my garden and bring in new flower species in the
form of seeds dropped on the way. Mother knows
how to correct the problems we face if we just get
out of the way and listen. Be active in your voice
for the voiceless in spreading the word of what is
happening. Bee the change you want
to see happen in the world!
Though this information might seem depressing,
and truly it is, there is hope. Many professors state
that in the crisis that is CCD, a perfect storm of lack
of food, chemicals, viruses,
and parasites attacking our
very sacred friends, the crisis is
Debbie McSweeney is currently a
producing more research and
student of Rosemary Gladstar, a bee
discovery on the lives of our
activist, and a pollinator habitat
bees and pollinators than ever
specialist. She is currently working
in the history of mankind. We
on establishing a United Plant
are looking through a window,
Savers Sanctuary where she will
and the view outside is showing
teach medicine making, growing rare
us our mistakes–our overuse of
medicinals, and creating pollinator
chemicals, our lack of respect
habitat. She lives in Kansas on a sixfor and preservation of the
acre certified Bee Friendly Farm with
environment, and the effects
her husband, rare Guernsey goats, dogs,
we see every day in human
cats, chickens, and bees. She can be
health. As herbalists you have
reached at [email protected].
seen these things increase,
especially in our children. The
bees are whispering to us to
Debbie McSweeney harvesting
pay attention, to change our
elecampane (Inula helenium), a plant
bees love.
ways, or what is happening to
them will happen to us. Isn’t it
I shall collect plants and fossils,
already? Look at the rise in Parkinson’s, autoimmune
issues, thyroid and endocrine diseases, and liver
and with the best of instruments
issues in children. I’ve never seen so many traveling
rashes in kids. Will we listen? Will we fight for the most
make astronomic observations. Yet
important medicine and gift to mankind we have
this is not the main purpose of my
ever had–honey and the honey bee? Will you sit in
your chair and say someone else will do it, or will you
journey. I shall endeavor to find out
plant more flowers and habitat in your little space?
how nature’s forces act upon one
One person can make a difference, and thousands
can affect change like we never thought we would
another, and in what manner the
ever see. When I get overwhelmed, I often think of
geographic environment exerts its
the day I watched the Berlin Wall fall at the hands
of citizens. I never thought I would see that happen.
influence on animals and plants.
But it did. And the world was never the same again.
If you are a beekeeper, think of changing out your
wax more often. The bees do not want a toxic bed
for their babies. Be aware of what is around your
40 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
In short, I must find out about the
harmony in nature.
- Baron Alexander von Humboldt
Book Reviews
The Organic Medicinal Herb Farmer
The Aromatherapy Garden:
by Jeff Carpenter and Melanie Carpenter
Chelsea Green Publishing, 2015. 416 pages.
Book review by Sara Katz, Herb Pharm co-founder
and UpS board president
by Kathi Keville
Timber Press, 2016. 276 pages.
Book review by Beth Baugh, Journal editor
The Ultimate Guide to Producing HighQuality Herbs on a Market Scale
In their comprehensive, labor-oflove book, The Organic Medicinal
Herb Farmer, Melanie and Jeff
Carpenter provide a treasure trove
of practical information on how
to grow medicinal herbs, an area
of increasing interest that can be
challenging in all of the particulars.
With fifteen years of organic medicinal herb growing experience and
a palpable passion for the plant world, the Carpenters
clearly and comprehensively explain all a small farmer
needs to know about growing, harvesting and drying
a wide variety of medicinal herb crops. Much more
than a “how-to farming” manual, the Carpenters’ book
offers a broad perspective on the world of medicinal
herbs including wild herb conservation concerns, herb
industry nuances, and business and marketing considerations. It is apparent to me that the Carpenters’ vision
for this book is to seed a plethora of small, regional,
organic medicinal herb farms, thereby taking pressure
off of wild medicinal plant communities and cultivating
healthy human, plant, and animal communities. This
is a book filled with information and love of medicinal
plants and deserves a special place in any herb lover’s
library!
The Medicinal Herb Grower
by Richo Cech. Illustrated by Sena Cech
Using personal experiences & stories that
are at once amusing and instructive,
Richo covers principles such as observation in nature, windows of opportunity,
creating plant habitat, benefits of
diversity, rules of green thumb, soil, seeds,
water, sun, trees, humans, and the forest
community.
Planting the Future
Edited by Rosemary Gladstar & Pamela Hirsch
Land stewardship, habitat protection, &
sustainable cultivation are of critical importance to ensure an abundant renewable
supply of medicinal plants for futture
generations.
Order these titles at unitedplantsavers.org
Growing Fragrant Plants for
Happiness and Well-Being
Kathi Keville, long-time UpS
supporter and author of fifteen
plant books, gives us yet another must have herbal. The stunning photos, many taken from
her spectacular herb garden of
almost 500 species of medicinal
herbs and fragrant plants, are
so vibrant that you can almost
conjure up their scents.
Keville does actually (and remarkably) describe the
scent of each plant. Here is the description for rosemary: “Rosemary leaves have a powerful, herby,
sharp, and slightly woody fragrance that includes
a hint of freshly cut cedarwood and a good bit of
camphor.”
The book includes a section about the benefits
of bringing native plants into the garden to help
maintain wild plant diversity and sustain wildlife
and native habitats and attract birds and pollinators. Examples of popular fragrant native plants are
given for different growing zones throughout the
United States. She discusses the roles of aromatic
plants in attracting pollinators, as well as deterring
garden pests and how plants affect moods. There
are sections on garden design, cultivating a fragrance garden, and preserving, storing, and using
the plants.
Keville profiles over 80 individual scented plants
juxtaposing modern studies regarding their medicinal benefits with interesting culture, history, and
some surprising statistics. She also gives an overview
of the tradition of aromatherapy and the history of
gardening and shows how to make simple oils, liniments, and tonics from these scented plants. As Jim
Duke so aptly put it, this book is “A breath of fresh
aromatic air, artfully and tastily presented.”
Isabella’s Peppermint
Flowers a book by Susan Leopold
To order, please visit
www.floraforkids.org
Spring 2016 | 41
BOTANICAL SANCTUARY NETWORK
Meet Some of our New BSN Members!
United Plant Savers’ vision is to see
UpS Botanical Sanctuaries established
in people’s backyards, farms and
woodlands, creating a living greenway
of native medicinal plants across the
landscape of America. A sanctuary isn’t defined
by size or magnitude, but as sacred space, a
place where one can find protection and the
peace and renewal of nature. Nor is a sanctuary
necessarily designated or defined by government
agencies or large organizations, though often we
think of it as such. We can all create sanctuary on
the land we care-take. As our Sanctuary Members
are demonstrating, Botanical Sanctuaries can be
created in small backyards as well as on large plots
of wilderness, in towns as well as in the country. As
you well know, it takes attitude, willingness, and
a desire to transform the way we value land, our
assumptions about land use, and the way we design
our gardens and farms. If we want to preserve
wilderness and the wild populations that thrive there,
we can’t look to others to do it for us. We need to
be willing to actively participate in the preservation
and restoration effort, and as good a place to start
as any, is in our backyards. And that is what you’re
doing. That is what the Botanical Sanctuary Network
program is about.
Thank you to all Botanical Sanctuary Network
members for being part of this vision and for your
efforts to help preserve and restore the native
landscape and our treasured medicinal herbs.
LIGHT FOOTSTEPS FARM
Michael is a nurse practitioner who is developing
an innovative healthcare model for both People
and Planet, and Christine is an herbalist and biologist passionate about sharing her love of the Earth
with others. Together, the team has begun teaching classes at the farm about herbal first-aid and
herbs for women’s health and celebrating Earthbased holidays. Over time, the couple hopes to
host more classes and workshops focused on preserving our native medicinal species and continuing
to spread the knowledge of the people’s medicine
within the community. The long-term dream is of
opening an integrative free health care clinic operated by their non-profit Resilient Health Network, Inc.
Chardon, OH
Sanctuary Stewards:
Christine Cassella & Michael Bennett
Just minutes from historic downtown Chardon and
about an hour east of Cleveland, OH is a new permaculture homestead and learning center with a special emphasis on human and environmental health.
Christine and Michael,
along with their daughter
Cora Luna, are stewards
of this land on which they
hope to demonstrate a
resilient, Earth-centered
lifestyle in which humans
are integral members of
the vast polyculture we
call “nature.” Light Footsteps Farm is a 23-acre
parcel of land growing
many medicinal herbs
along with a homestead
garden and orchard.
The medicine wheel garden in its first year of
growth.
Many of the herbs
grown are used to make herbal wellness products
that are sold at the farmers’ market and online.
In their first full season on the farm, Christine and Michael (along with a number of volunteers) installed a
2500 sq. ft. keyhole garden, a medicine wheel garden, a hugelkultur orchard, and began planting native woodland medicinals like goldenseal (Hydrastis
canadensis) and ramps (Allium tricoccum) into their
20-plus acres of forest. A flock of chickens also came
to the land, along with a hive of bees and several
milking goats.
42 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
This coming growing season, the farm will host a natural building workshop where participants will learn
about constructing benches and ovens with cob.
There will be a number of plant identification walks
and herbal how-to workshops, and guest herbalists
will begin to teach workshops at the property. New
spaces have been chosen to begin planting further
permaculture guilds and to install a sun-trap forest
garden.
When Christine and Michael first walked onto this
land, they knew they had finally found the perfect
place to set down
their roots and build
their dreams. Now,
one year at a time, the
couple is creating a
homestead and place
of learning where
People and Planet
can heal and thrive
once again.
Christine and her daughter plant goldenseal
in the forest.
THE FIRST AMERICAN
GINSENG SANCTUARY
Compton Gardens
Bentonville, AR
Sanctuary Steward:
Madison Woods
When I first began learning about ginseng (Panax
quinquefolius), there weren’t any live plants to see
in my area, even if I had known where to find them
in a forest. At the time, I lived in southern Louisiana,
and ginseng doesn’t grow there. Pictures in books
(mostly field guides) were my only resource. The
internet wasn’t even useful yet then, as it was in the
early 1990s when I became interested.
Once I took to the woods in an area of Louisiana
I thought just might have a wild population. I now
know the plant I thought might be ginseng was most
likely Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia).
The first real, definitively identified ginseng I saw was
at Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, Arkansas. At
the time I think they only had one specimen plant
in the little wooded area alongside a pathway near
the herbalist’s cabin. I haven’t been back there
since, so I’m not sure if that plant is still there or
whether they have added even more.
Luckily for me, at the same little woodland path at
the Folk Center there was also a labeled Virginia
creeper. I went back and forth between the two
plants, which were probably 100 feet apart from
each other, until I could clearly see the difference
between the two.
Since moving to northwest Arkansas where ginseng
grows in the shady hollers and on the north-, west, and east-facing slopes of our Ozark Mountains,
I’ve observed and documented a lot of American
ginseng plants and habitats.
My husband and I started Wild Ozark, a “farm” on
the books, but it’s really a wild-simulated ginseng
nursery. We don’t grow the ginseng in beds but
seed them directly in the ground in the forests that
provide the proper habitats.
Wild ginseng also grows here, so we make a point
of not planting the areas where the wild plants
grow. Since it’s illegal to buy wild seed, we have to
purchase our seeds, and I’m worried about genetic
pollution. Separating them in this way may not be
enough, but I’m hoping it is, and it’s the best we can
do for a solution.
Nowadays I have a hard time imagining that I had
ever confused the two. But I often get emails from
my blog readers asking for help identifying plants
they think might be ginseng. Almost invariably, the
plants they think are ginseng turn out to be creeper
or buckeye.
I remembered seeing the plant at Mountain View
and began thinking what if there were somewhere
on our side of the state where people could
go to learn to identify ginseng. Mountain View
was a good five hour drive from us and it would
have been impossible for me to go out there to
help anyone who wanted hands-on help with
identification. I wanted to have more than one
specimen plant. I wanted to showcase an entire
habitat, even if we had to recreate one.
In late 2014 I approached Compton Botanical
Gardens in Bentonville, Arkansas about putting
in an educational American ginseng habitat in
one of their shady locations. My hope was to give
others a chance to see this endangered plant in an
accessible area, in the same way I was able to see
the plant that day in Mountain View.
The location of our habitat-in-progress, with a few of the plants ready to go in.
The habitat under construction at Compton
Gardens will provide the opportunity for those
interested to see and watch not only ginseng, but all
of the most common companion plants. The garden
is open year round, so interested persons can
observe and learn about the plants as they grow
from seedlings all the way to maturity.
Why this precise location? Well, I had worked in
Bentonville several years before leaving my job as
an environmental scientist to work from home as a
writer and ginseng nursery operator. On my lunch
breaks I used to visit Compton Gardens. As I walked
the paths there, I noticed shady nooks already
housing several of ginseng’s companion plants. It
wasn’t a far stretch to imagine a full-blown ginseng
habitat there.
Not only did it seem to be a good location, but
the gardens are housed on the grounds of a home
that belonged to Dr. Neil Compton, the man
responsible for spearheading a campaign to keep
the Buffalo River free of dams. All along the Buffalo
River are many habitats for wild American ginseng,
and I thought it a fitting location for the first public
Spring 2016 | 43
if it survived, it will be the first “mother plant” of
the sanctuary. It’ll flower, set fruit, and drop seeds,
hopefully beginning the first colony of our American
Ginseng Sanctuary at Compton Gardens.
With every trip to the garden, my excitement builds.
It means an outdoor “classroom” in a public and
protected place where I can “show and tell” about
ginseng and the habitat (and so can anyone else). It
means that others having a hard time figuring out the
difference between ginseng and Virginia creeper will
have a place to go and see them both, with labels,
in real life. It means that I’ll be able to combine my
efforts with those of others to encourage stewardship
and foster love of something basic to our American
heritage–a plant that’s been at the heart of a tradition
that spans centuries.
As with most natural resources, when there is a demand, the desire to provide a supply can cause a
crisis. Digging by the traditional diggers isn’t the activity causing the concern. The traditionals have managed their plots for generations without depleting their
supply.
Madison Woods and Corrin Troutman.
American ginseng garden, or sanctuary in northwest
Arkansas. Dr. Compton was also a native plants
enthusiast and collector.
After getting an encouraging response from Corrin
Troutman, Compton’s Director of Operations, the
plan went from an idea to a project. In January 2015
I contacted United Plant Savers about a grant to
help with my expenses. It takes me about two hours
to make the trip to the location from where I live, so
there would be travel costs to make the frequent trips.
I also wanted to make educational handouts, so there
would be printing expenses. The plants were supplied
by Wild Ozark (mine and my husband’s ginseng
nursery) and Compton Gardens.
We began in early April 2015. Luke Davis, the Site
Manager for the gardens was our partner in planning.
He’s since moved on to other opportunities so
this year we’ll have a new partner to work with.
We planted goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis),
bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), doll’s eyes (white
baneberry) (Actaea pachypoda), maidenhair ferns
(Adiantum pedatum), wild ginger (Asarum canadensis),
giant Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum var.
commutatum), and black cohosh (Actaea racemosa).
Pawpaw, redbud, and maple trees were already in
place in the chosen site.
At the end of April we brought in the American
ginseng seedlings, a few two-year olds, and a
three-year old. My hope is that especially the oldest
plant survived the winter. When it unfurls this year,
44 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
Newcomers to the ginseng fervor may not understand
the fragility of the ecosystem that ginseng calls home,
and those who aren’t considering the future or the impact of today’s behavior on tomorrow’s yield are only
part of the challenges presented to the survival of this
plant, but it’s a very large part.
Because it needs a specific environment to thrive,
when the loss of even one tree can cause an imbalance, development and logging activity have a
tremendous impact. And there are yet other reasons
ginseng’s status remains endangered. Rising deer and
turkey populations are a threat. Deer nibble the tops
and turkeys eat the seeds (which destroys it).
Private landowners
can offer sanctuary and refuge to
this species, and
Wild Ozark hopes
that through this
Ginseng Sanctuary
Project at Compton we can encourage stewardship of American
ginseng.
To keep up with our progress you can visit our
online project journal: www.wildozark.com/
compton-gardens/
WALKER MOUNTAIN
DEERFIELD, VA
Sanctuary Steward:
Shay Herring Clanton, Kim Clanton
& Family
The care of the earth is our most ancient and our most
worthy and, after all, our most pleasing responsibility.
To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal
is our only hope. ~ Wendell Berry
moist and rich and blessed with a diversity of native
medicinal plants. Many of them are on United Plant
Saver’s “To-Watch” and “At-Risk” lists, including
ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), black cohosh (Actaea
racemosa), bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis),
mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum), Solomon’s
seal (Polygonatum biflorum), wild ginger (Asarum
canadensis), stoneroot (Collinsonia canadensis), and
wild yam (Dioscorea villosa). We have planted more
ginseng, goldenseal, and ramps (Allium tricoccum)
and continue to add to our plantings every year.
We are careful to buy plants from our bioregion,
and every fall we also plant a few seeds gathered
We feel honored and blessed to have the land
sustainably from ginseng plants that we have found
we love become part of United Plant Savers
in the woods around us. This place has a long history
Botanical Sanctuary Network. Walker Mountain
of digging for ginseng, and we have enjoyed the
Botanical Sanctuary is in a beautiful “holler” in the
Allegheny Mountains and the southern Appalachian stories told to us by the elders who still live nearby.
This land was farmed and selectively logged over
Mountains. We are at the base of Walker Mountain,
known for its sinkholes, caves, and springs. Our house the last century. Some of the original fields are
now returning to woodland, and there are many
was built around 1890 next to Clayton Mill Creek,
slippery elms (Ulmus fulva) growing along with
a rushing spring-fed native trout stream that flows
black
walnuts (Juglans nigra) and redbud (Cercis
from Walker Mountain. We are in the Chesapeake
canadensis
) in those areas. We share the woodlands
Bay/James River Watershed, and the closest town
with wild turkey,
to us is the small town of
ruffed grouse,
Deerfield, Virginia. For over
foxes, black bear,
20 years we have been
bobcats, whitetail
slowly restoring our house
deer, raccoons, and
and discovering bit by bit
opossums, as well as
the beauty and diversity of
the Eastern woodrat
this place we call home.
and many species
We own about 40 acres,
of migratory birds. A
a small portion of which
pair of ravens returns
is open land and fields,
every February to
and the rest is forest land.
their nest in a rocky
The George Washington
cliff to the west of
National forest borders our
our house. Turkey tail
land to the west, so we
(Trametes versicolor)
can walk out our door and
fungi
and many
into thousands of acres of
other
mushrooms
Medicinal gardens at Walker Mountain
public land and beautiful
grow
abundantly
in
forest.
the woodlands, and we are also growing some
medicinal and edible mushrooms on logs in the
A big organic vegetable garden and a medicinal
sanctuary.
and culinary herb garden grow close to the house.
Many native plants grow in the vegetable garden
including echinacea (Echinacea spp.), yarrow
(Achillea millefolium), Queen Anne’s lace (Daucus
carota), and mullein (Verbascum thapsus), and they
attract many native bees and butterflies. In the
open fields near the house we are encouraging the
growth of existing native plants, such as, bee balm
(Monarda spp.), goldenrod (Solidago canadensis),
mullein, native sunflowers (Helianthus spp.), Queen
Anne’s lace and milkweed (Asclepias spp.), and
we are creating more areas for native flowering
plants. We have also planted pleurisy root (Asclepias
tuberosa).
Our goal for the next year is to continue with
planting more native medicinals, especially ramps,
ginseng, and goldenseal. To enrich the earth where
they grow, we are making compost with leaves and
woody material from the forest. Last summer we
began creating a medicine trail along a beautiful
part of Clayton Mill Creek where there are many
native medicinal plants, and this year we plan to
finish the medicine trail and identify the plants and
trees using old salvaged slate roofing tiles. We are
working on a flyer that describes the plants and their
uses in herbal medicine.
continued on page 47
Clayton Mill Creek flows through a hollow between
Walker Mountain and Sideling Hill. Its banks are
Spring 2016 | 45
The Two Sides of Chaga
by Robert Dale Rogers
Over the past decade, herbalists have increasingly
embraced the use of medicinal mushrooms in
clinical practice. These members of the Fungi
Kingdom offer many health benefits, and there
remains much to be learned about them.
so much chaga that this will never happen. I wish I
shared their confidence. My herbal friend, Michael
Vertolli has noted that over the past decade the
chaga in forests of south and central Ontario is
becoming a scarce commodity.
Some mushrooms, such as reishi (Ganoderma
lucidum), turkey tail (Trametes versicolor), and
maitake (Grifola frondosa) have undergone
numerous in vitro, in vivo, and assorted human
clinical trials.
Another aspect about chaga is its widespread
misuse in the natural health community. Ground
chaga powder is found in nearly every health food
store, raw food establishment, and new age café
throughout North America.
These involve studies on the
benefits of the fruiting body
and mycelium, largely
involving commerciallyproduced extracts.
Chaga (Inonotus obliquus),
a sterile conk wildcrafted
from birch trees, has
gained increasing
popularity over the past
five years. The internet
is replete with stories of
incredible harvests, as well
as numerous multilevel
marketing companies
Chaga (Inonotus obliquus)
claiming outrageous
medicinal properties. It
should be noted that there is not one human clinical
trial yet published on this medicinal mushroom.
This demand for chaga has led to a feverish state
of over-harvesting that may prove to be the ruin
of an important health product. What is generally
not appreciated is that the sterile conk, or living
organism, is only found on one in 20,000 birch trees.
Some readers will immediately react in denial, but
the reality is chaga where found in a birch stand will
often inhabit several trees in only that specific area.
Other birch stands, infected with different medicinal
mushrooms, such as tinder conk (Fomes fomentarius)
and birch polypore (Polyporus betulinus), will not
have populations of these valuable sterile conks.
Overharvesting chaga stands means that when
the birch finally succumbs and falls down, the
microscopic fertile fruiting bodies may not present
themselves to release spores and infect another
tree. This occurs during a short one- to two-day
period of time and has rarely been witnessed.
Without a source of the ability to reproduce, the
chaga may quickly enter into a period of scarcity
or extinction. Many herbalists will be thinking to
themselves that they harvest sustainably and see
46 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
The idea that this medicinal herb
should be used as a general daily
tonic has no validity in medicine or
science. Like many herbs, it should
be used when required, especially
for difficult to treat auto-immune and
cancer conditions, as well as adjunct
therapy.
Traditional recipes for chaga involve
a decoction, or slow boil, for a period
of one to two hours or more followed
by a twenty-four hour fermentation at
a lower temperature. Why? We really
don’t know, but I suspect that readers
who do fermentation will surmise what
may be involved. This liquid can be
preserved as a tincture so its efficacy
remains for an indefinite period of time. It could
well be that the optimal extraction of the medicinal
properties of chaga involves a conversion of some
compounds into others that are either more easily
absorbed or increased in efficacy.
Chaga is being touted as a cure-all for various
health conditions, including hormonal cancers,
diabetes, and numerous conditions with minimal
proof.
As an herbalist for over forty years, I have long used
plant medicine successfully with little biomedical
endorsement. In fact, I consider empirical evidence
to be highly underrated in the scientific world, but
can millions of people over thousands of years be
misguided over herbal medicine?
Dubious claims abound about the anti-oxidant
properties of chaga. This is based on the ORAC
scale, or Oxygen Radical Absorbent Capacity test,
a measure of the capacity of any food to measure
the amount of free oxygen radicals they can
absorb. More than one advertorial site on the web
suggests one gram of chaga has an ORAC score of
36,557, compared to blueberries at only 24.5. This is
highly misleading and is simply a marketing tool.
The values indicating anti-oxidant capacity have
no relevance to the effects of specific bioactive
compounds, according to a statement by the USDA.
Wild and cultivated chaga extracts vary a great deal
in their chemical composition at the present time. I
believe over time this particular issue will be addressed,
and we can all benefit from sustainable, factoryproduced extracts that undergo double-blind, placebocontrolled trials, thus placing chaga in its rightful place
as an important natural medicine. Until that day I urge
everyone to respect and appreciate this valuable
resource and ensure its sustainability for now and the
generations to come. I would strongly suggest chaga be
placed, as soon as possible, on the United Plant Savers
“To-Watch” List.
Robert Dale Rogers has been an herbalist for over 45
years and is a professional member of the AHG. He is
an assistant clinical professor in family medicine at the
University of Alberta and teaches earth spirit medicine at
the Northern Star College.
He has authored over 40 books on plants and fungi of
the boreal forest including The Fungal Pharmacy: The
Complete Guide to Medicinal Mushrooms and Lichens
of North America. His newest contribution, Mushroom
Essences: Vibrational Healing from Kingdom Fungi will be
released in July 2016 by North Atlantic.
Walker Mt. continued from page 45
Our two-year plan is to be open to the public at
specific times throughout the year and to be a place
of peace and sanctuary and of joy and learning for
people of all ages–but especially for children. This land
and its trees, creeks, and rivers are the inspiration for my
own work as an artist, and I look forward to teaching
both nature journaling and watercolor painting classes
with the sanctuary and the plants as inspiration.
I am grateful to live among the plants that I study in my
classes in herbalism and use as medicine. In creating a
place of sanctuary and a protected place for the plants
to grow undisturbed and honored, I sense that we are
cultivating a deeper relationship with the land and with
the plants themselves. It is our hope that a reverent and
personal connection with the natural world will blossom
in all who visit here.
As I write this, sitting close to the woodstove on a cold
February day, an icy mist is drifting in the trees on the
top of Walker Mountain, and snow is falling. I think of the
ginseng and black cohosh and the bloodroot close by
beneath the snow, full of the promise of growth and bud
and leaf, waiting for the light and warmth of spring. I am
filled with the anticipation of seeing the plants emerge,
and by the promise of seeing our plans for Walker
Mountain Sanctuary begin to take root and unfold.
...United Plant Savers’...
Medicinal Plant
Conservation
Certificate Program
Hard Working?
Motivated to learn about
medicinal plants?
Want to experience
United Plant Savers’ 360-acre
plant sanctuary in Ohio?
SPRING SESSION:
May 2 - June 10
2016
FALL SESSION:
September 5 - October 7
Apply now for
early acceptance!
A HANDS-ON
PRACTICAL APPROACH
Interns work 30 hours per week doing a variety
of medicinal plant conservation & cultivation
projects. Classes & opportunities to work with
Chip Carroll, Program Manager, as well as UpS
staff teachers. Interns learn general plant
propagation techniques working with “AtRisk” and endangered species, general
farm upkeep and maintenance, landscape
care and maintenance, greenhouse work,
medicinal plant identification, sustainable wild
harvesting principles and practices,
medicine making & more!
Application available online at
www.unitedplantsavers.org
740-742-3455
[email protected]
Spring 2016 | 47
GRANT REPORTS
Spring Grant Recipients
Many United Plant Savers members do not realize
that not only do we seek out grants, donations, and
other forms of funding, but we are also the source
of funding for several community replanting projects
each year in the form of The United Plant Savers
Community Grants.
In order to qualify, grant proposals must come from
a current UpS member, be community oriented and
educational in nature, and there must be some return
to United Plant Savers and our mission. This can be
in the form of seeds, research results, or reporting of
the project that could be of value to UpS and our
members. For more specific guidelines please visit our
Community Grant page.
Herbstalk
www.herbstalk.org
Herbstalk is envisioning a garden
project through which they
create small urban container
plantings of herbs in the
Boston, Cambridge,
and Summerville, MA
region. These containers
will serve aesthetic and
educational purposes with the
specific goal of building more awareness around
medicinal plants. They will function as an extension of
Herbstalk’s educational mission and will offer learning
opportunities for the community.
United Plant Savers is grateful to have the opportunity
to provide grant funding to these worthy projects,
and we look forward to the 2016 Community Grant
Program. Anyone interested in submitting a grant
proposal for 2016 should visit the Community Grants
page. And please consider becoming a member
of United Plant Savers. These grants would not be
possible without the generosity of our members.
Three Leaf Farm
This spring we are pleased to announce the recipients
of our 2015 United Plants Savers Community Grants...
FARM
Luna Farm Herb Gardens and Botanical
Sanctuary
www.lunaherbco.com
Kristine Brown, along with her partner
Greg and their children will be using
the UpS Community Grant to help
fund the creation of a medicinal
woodland native garden. They
intend to use the garden to
teach their community about
the importance of sustaining and
creating more woodland habitat and
saving threatened native plants from extinction.
www.threeleaffarm.com
Sara Martinelli’s Three Leaf
Farm Nature trail is used
for teaching purposes in
the many workshops and
classes held at the farm.
In 2013 Boulder County
experienced one of the
most damaging floods
in recent history. The
nature trail was completely
wiped out, and Three Leaf
Farm intends on using their UpS Community Grant
to purchase medicinal plant material and seeds to
reestablish the trail and the herbs they lost.
THREE LEAF
Old Ways Herbal
https://oldwaysherbal.wordpress.com
Great Parks of Hamilton County
Juliette and Henry Carr intend to use the UpS
Community Grant to create an educational botanical
sanctuary to further their stewardship and preservation
goals. The educational botanical sanctuary will be
an important illustration of stewardship for their herbal
and homesteading classes, farm education with local
schools, and other community groups that use their
classroom.
www.greatparks.org
Wild Ozark, LLC
Ohio/Glenwood Gardens Scent Garden
Doug Stevenson and his staff at Glenwood Gardens
had been searching for ways to improve the Scent
Garden within its Highland Discovery Garden.
Improving the Scent Garden will be an excellent
opportunity for children to learn about plants for the
first time and to have experiences that could instill a
lifelong appreciation for the world around them.
48 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
www.wildozark.com
Wild Ozark is a newly-licensed ginseng nursery and
information resource. They are working in conjunction
with Peel–Compton Gardens of Bentonville, AR to
install an instructional ginseng habitat. The project
will benefit the community by offering a hands-on
outdoor and indoor classroom experience for learning
how to grow and steward American ginseng and
its indicator plants. Wild Ozark’s owner, Madison
Woods, looks forward to teaching people how to
manage and tend virtually wild and wild ginseng in a
sustainable, responsible way.
PIE: Partners in Education
United Plant Savers Partners in
Education program is designed
to enrich school programming
and students’ education through
instilling awareness and ethics
in regards to the conservation
of our native medicinal plants.
Schools and apprenticeship
programs that have enrolled
in the Partners in Education
program have provided their
students the opportunity to
receive all of the benefits of
membership at a discounted
‘student-friendly’ price. These
schools and programs are also
given educational resources
and curricular support as well
as provided the opportunity to
promote classes and workshops
on our website and social media
channels. For more information
about our Partners in Education
program, please visit our website:
www.unitedplantsavers.org.
Ed Fletcher teaching at Goldenseal Sanctuary
United Plant Savers holds a special place in our heart for our
Partners in Education Schools and would like to thank the following
participating 2015-2016 schools and programs:
SAGE MOUNTAIN
East Barre, VT
sagemountain.com
OWLCRAFT HEALING WAYS
Scottsville,VA
owlcrafthealingways.tumblr.com
MAGNOLIA CHILDREN’S SCHOOL
Glouster, OH
SWEET HERB MEDICINALS
Ben Lomond, CA
sweetherbmedicinals.com
FLORIDA SCHOOL OF
HOLISTIC LIVING
Orlando, FL
www.holisticlivingschool.org
GREEN COMFORT SCHOOL OF
HERBAL MEDICINE
Washington, VA
greencomfortherbschool.com
DANDELION HERBAL CENTER
Kneeland, CA
www.dandelionherb.com
YERBA WOMAN HERBAL
APPRENTICE PROGRAM
Willits, CA
motherlandbotanicalsanctuary.
com
WINTERGREEN BOTANICALS
EDUCATION CENTER
Allenstown, NH
wintergreenbotanicals.com
NORTHWEST SCHOOL OF
BOTANICAL STUDIES
McKinleyville, CA
www.herbaleducation.net
HERBAL CONSERVANCY
GREEN GIRL HERBS
Hopewell, NY
www.greengirlherbs.com
BOTANICA
New River, AZ
HOCKING COLLEGE SCHOOL OF
NATURAL RESOURCES
Nelsonville, OH
www.hocking.edu
OMNIGREEN
Port Clinton, OH
www.omnigreen.com
HEARTSTONE CENTER FOR
EARTH ESSENTIALS
Van Etten, NY
www.heart-stone.com
VERMONT CENTER FOR
INTEGRATED HERBALISM
Montpellier, VT
www.vtherbcenter.org
ARBORVITAE SCHOOL OF
TRADITIONAL HERBALISM
New York, NY
www.arborvitaeny.com
BLUE OTTER SCHOOL OF HERBAL
MEDICINE
Fort Jones, CA
www.blueotterschool.com
HERBAL ACADEMY OF
NEW ENGLAND
Bedford, MA
herbalacademyofne.com
GREENWOOD HERBALS
Limerick, ME
www.greenwoodherbals.com
TWIN STAR HERBAL EDUCATION
New Milford, CT
www.twinstarherbal.com
MOCKINGBIRD MEADOWS
ECLECTIC HERBAL INSTITUTE
Marysville, OH
mockingbirdmeadows.com
SACRED PLANT TRADITIONS
Charlottesville, VA
sacredplanttraditions.com
CHESTNUT SCHOOL OF
HERBAL MEDICINE
Weaverville, NC
www.chestnutherbs.com
BASTYR UNIVERSITY
HERBAL SCIENCES
Kenmore, WA
www.bastyr.edu
GREEN TURTLE BOTANICALS
Nashville, IN
greenturtlebotaniclas.com
MARYLAND UNIVERSITY OF
INTEGRATIVE HEALTH
Laurel, MD
www.muih.edu
DAVID WINSTON’S CENTER
FOR HERBAL STUDIES
Washington, NJ
www.herbalstudies.net
THYME HERBAL
Amherst, MA
www.thymeherbal.com
MISTY MEADOWS
HERBAL CENTER
Lee, NH
www.mistymeadows.org
MILAGRO SCHOOL OF HERBAL
MEDICINE
Sante Fe, NM
milagroschoolofherbalmedicine.
com
Spring 2016 | 49
Using Traditional Knowledge in Ever yday Life
by Sandra Lory
There is a strong message conveyed by plants
interfacing with people where the extreme
challenges of life necessitate clarity of purpose.
Each plant has a reason for being here, like we do.
Beacons of hope and sanctity in times of social and
ecological distress, the plants continue to grow in
the most difficult circumstances. They often show up
to help at just the right moment, as evidenced in the
following examples from my life with plants.
she cupped her children in Nairobi, Kenya, and
Goa, India. Eucalyptus facial steam administered
to me in Giza, Egypt after coming in from the cold
desert wind.
Dark fatty seeds from the cavernous pods of the
cacao (Theobroma cacao) tree, prepared for women
after childbirth and convalescing patients to restore
blood and strength.
Moringa (Moringa oleifera) trees in Port Au Prince,
Haiti still producing verdant, nutritious leaves despite
the surrounding rubble from the earthquake.
Rich flavored rosehips and still rampant juicy nettles
of late November which fed me while I wandered
my paternal ancestors’ village in Slovakia.
The tart and sweet combination of raw, local apple
cider vinegar and honey, known for the energy it
imparts to the mountain people of Vermont.
Fresh neem (Azadirachta indica) leaves we
farmworkers mashed into a compress for our coworker’s severe midsummer sunburn in Puerto Rico.
Bright colored turmeric (Curcuma longa) and
cayenne (Capsicum frutescens) powder paste
spread across my forehead lump, and the
fresh harvest of dark purple grapes I chewed
simultaneously, after sustaining a mild concussion.
Smokey-scented datura (Datura spp.) leaves Maya
healer Ms. Beatrice applied to my lower back with
castor oil to soften the injured muscles.
Haitian eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.)
Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.) branches we used for
bathing one another after a long day of treating
lung infections in the mobile naturopathic clinic in
Haiti. The eucalyptus leaves my granny used when
50 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
Horehound (Marrubium vulgare) jutting up
through broken pavement
Using traditional knowledge in our everyday life is
so easy. Yet there are so many barriers in Western
culture that divide us from our bodies and from
nature.
In the words of Susan Leopold, “If we protect areas
that are intact, then that vitality can spread out
and heal those areas that have been damaged.”
I love this statement and believe it applies to every
ecosystem: a body, a neighborhood, our planet.
How does social justice relate to plant healing,
conservation, and gardening? Plants teach
me to decolonize. They show me how to be in
solidarity. I am conscious of leveraging my unique
set of privileges for social justice and ecological
restoration. We can support movements for peace
and justice as human allies with herbal allies. We are
botanically minded ambassadors in the community
taking action. By contributing even in the smallest
of ways, the accumulative power we have creates
hope and becomes unstoppable.
The plants need us to safeguard their homes and
invite in more stewards. Let’s find sacredness in
asphalt or a toxic spill-covered shoreline. Each
place has a spirit and an essence. Many places of
pollution are home to people surviving systematic
oppression and environmental disasters.
We members of UpS know that preserving
our native and medicinal plants has a
meaning and outcome that is more than
meets the eye. From new sanctuaries,
ancient ways are remembered,
pollinators return, wildlife is fed, soil is
replenished, and community is nourished.
Sanctuary can be cultivated absolutely
anywhere. Close your eyes and envision
a place in your community where you
can see the potential for healing force
awakening. Let the spirits of the plants
flow through you to manifest something
beautiful. Go for it! It’s the one-on-one
connections that make big powerful
changes in subtle ways.
The outcome of medicinal plant projects
at the community level can be much
greater than we might imagine. They are
a gesture of peace and an act of healing
we can’t contain. There is a ripple effect
that is beyond any one of us but is part of
each of us.
Add pollinator herbs to your office’s
corporate landscaping. Start a first aid
garden at your city park or public school.
Educate Main Street merchants and their
customers by planting a native medicinal
trail downtown. Bring an anti-stress tea
blend to share at your work place. Create
sanctuary in the neighborhood by letting
a shared area go wild again. Pass around
rose elixir at your dear one’s funeral. Bring
lavender spritzer to your friend’s room
at the hospital. Offer garden space to a
refugee family. Give herbal support to the
local #Black Lives Matter group. Find out
which plants your own ancestors ingested
and prayed with, and integrate them
into your life. The small things are the big
things. Sandra Lory has explored grassroots
activism for 15 years through photography,
community gardens, food, natural farming,
traditional healing, and folkloric medicine.
She was a chef at Sage Mountain Herbal
Retreat Center for a decade. Currently she
is a clinical herbalist, cupping therapist,
and food justice educator, who co-stewards
a ten-acre family farmstead in Orange,
Vermont. MandalaBotanicalsVT.com
We inter-breathe with the rain
forests, we drink from the oceans.
They are part of our own body.
-Thich Nhat Hanh
To read about and connect with sacred
seed gardens around the world visit
www.sacredseedssanctuary.org
Sanctuario Semillas Sagradas, Finca Luna Nueva: Costa Rica
Missouri Botanical Garden: United States
Semillas Sagradas de Huamachuco: Peru
Crow Creek Indian Reservation: United States
Ambalabe: Madagascar
Jardin Botanico de Semillas Sagradas de Chan Chan: Peru
Sacred Seeds at the Intervale Center: The Abenaki Heritage
Garden: United States
Rodale Institute: United States
Bastyr University: United States
American Botanical Council: United States
Sitting Bull College: United States
Kindle Farm School: United States
The Green Farmacy Garden: United States
Hosagunda: India
Jardin Botanico Medicinal de los Llanos: Colombia
Sacred Seeds at Reserva Natural La Pedregoza: Colombia
Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine - I-AIM: India
Native Forest Foundation: Sri Lanka
Tel Aviv University Botanical Garden: Israel
The Rattanakiri Living Library for Seeds and Culture: Cambodia
Bronx Green-Up: United States
Chaikoni Jonibo Garden: Peru
Forest School for Traditional Health Practitioners PROMETRA Uganda: Uganda
Punta Mona Center for Sustainable Living: Costa Rica
Goldenseal Sanctuary: United States
L'Herboretum: France
IITA Forest Reserve Ethnobotanical Garden: Nigeria
Jardin Etnobotanico Pueblo Chacobo-Pacahuara: Bolivia
Southern Cross University Medicinal Plant Garden: Australia
Bakuriani Alpine Botanical Garden: Georgia
Tertulias Herb: United States
Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary & Cultural Village: Ghana
Maryland University of Integrative Health (MUIH)
Herb Garden: United States
Florida School of Holistic Living Bodhi Garden: United States
Pha Tad Ke Botanical Garden: Laos
Spring 2016 | 51
GREEN THANKS & GRATITUDE
Thank You For Your Generous Contributions & Support
We extend a special thank you to all members
of UpS who continue to support us with
memberships and donations. Your support,
efforts and concern are the only thing that
can really make a difference in the protection and
conservation of our important medicinal plants.
All donations and help, whether it be organizational,
Founding Donors: $50,000+
cultivating, educating or choosing medicinal herb
products more consciously are appreciated. Great
gratitude goes to the many in-kind donations of goods
and services from companies and friends that support
our work. Thank you to all our supporters and members
who continue to rally for the plants.
2015 Donations of $5,000+
Judy & Michael Funk
Aveda
Paul Strauss
New Chapter
Clif Bar Foundation
Sara Katz
Charles Leopold
The Wiancko Charitable
Foundation
Sacharuna Foundation
International Herb Symposium
Individual 2015 Donations of $100-$4,900
The Thalia & George
Liberatos Foundation
The Gleason Family
Foundation
Leaf People, Inc.
Women’s Herbal Conf., 2015
Rosemary Gladstar
Florida Herbal Conference
Mountain Rose Herbs
Pacific Botanicals
Kelly Kindscher
Gayle & Howard Gross
The Hitchcock Bowart
Daterra Family Foundation
Michael Friedman
Eric Metzman
Elemental Herbs
Herb Pharm
Kay Parent
Todd Lynch
Tim Blakley
Helen Lowe Metzman
Bevin Clare
Medicine Hunter, Inc.
Learning Herbs.com
The White Pine Fund
Ed Smith
Joe Viny
Ancient Order of Druids in
America
Michael McGuffin
Rosita Arvigo
Kathleen Maier
Stephen Yeager
Oshala Farm
Wise Women Herbals
The Gaia Conference
Misha McKinney
Deneen Bernier
Mark Siefert
Breitenbush Herbal
Conference
Homeodynamics
Patrick Leggett
Earthkeepers, UU Fellowship
at Stoneybrook
Fern Hill Nursery
Charlie & Shirley Philips
Blair Frank
Ryan Drum
Wells Fargo Community
Support Campaign
Daniel Charlton
Emily Ruff
Melanie Carpenter
Moonmaid Botanicals
Watershed Organic
Lawn Care
Cassandra Nicholson
Susan Marynowski
Jane Bilger & &rew
Philipsborn in honor of
Maggie Philipsborn
Becca Piastrelli
Pamela Barone
Julie Levy
Dawn Daniels
Dandelion Herb Center
Hannah Popish
Bob Beyfuss
Michelle Borodinsky
Russell Cohen
Anne DeNovo
William Spear
Mid Atlantic Women’s
Conference
Bette A. & Charles W.
Marschall Family Fund
(in honor of grandson
Bradley Williams)
Lucy Kahn
Additional Donations
Oracle Matching Gifts
Luray Garden Club
Third Sun Solar and Wind
Power
Silicon Valley Community
Foundation
Sara Martinelli
Mary Kirkpatrick
Jeff Schmit
Clara Lennox
Narcissa Segura
The Standard Employee
Giving Foundation
Holly Applegate
Vincent Franco
Nancy Hyton
Nina Casamento
Mia Genis
Martha Rabinowitz
Bonnie Abel
Jonah Roberts
Donna Burns
Elisabeth Shedd
Botanical Liasons, LLC
52 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
Amy McDonnell
Jaki Beshur
Colleen Handlon-Schaull
Svetlana Cameil
Aha Dorisse
Susan Haag
Jude Christian
Kate Willis
Kathleen Simpson Myron
Jennifer Landry
Catherine Caldwell
Joshua Windham
Oliver Dyer-Bennet
Eva Wax
Teresa Gilman
Todd Miller
Jessica True
Becca Piastrelli
Julie Levy
Kristina Swesey
Vincent Frano
Corporate Members Program
Corporate members
have a unique
opportunity to educate
their customers about
issues surrounding the
sustainable supply of our
native medicinal plants.
More information about
the corporate member
program is on our
website.
21 Drops
Delray Beach, FL
www.21drops.com
Gaia Herbs, Inc.
Brevard, NC
www.gaiaherbs.com
Jade Bloom
Herriman, UT
www.jadebloom.com
Golden Apple
Healing Arts
Naperville, IL
goldenapplehealingarts.
com
Johnston Chiropractic
Health & Wellness
Hot Springs, AR
www.thebackninja.com
Green Dragon Herbs
Brattleboro, VT
greendragonbotanicals.
com
Mountain Run Farm
Big Island, VA
mountainrunfarm.com
Alkemist Lab
Costa Mesa, CA
www.alchemist.com
Green Girl Herbs &
Healing
Hopewell Junction, NY
www.greengirlherbs.com
Ancient Order of Druids in
America
Cumberland, MD
www.aoda.org
Guernsey County Master
Gardeners
Cambridge, OH
www.extension.osu.edu
Aspen Herbals
Baker, MT
www.etsy.com/shop/
AspenHerbals
Health & Wisdom Inc.
Arcola, MO
www.health-andwisdom.com
BioPharm Herbal Lab
Bensalem, PA
biopharmherbaltesting.
com
Herb Pharm
Williams, OR
www.herb-pharm.com
Bluebird Herbals
Eureka, CA
www.bluebirdherbals.
com
Botanical Plantations
Missouri
botanicalplantations.com
Earth Mama Angel Baby
Clackamas, OR
earthmamaangelbaby.
com
Elemental Herbs
Morro Bay, CA
elementalherbs.com
Equinox Botanicals
Rutland, OH
equinoxbotanicals.com
The Farmacy Natural
Foods
Athens, OH
farmacynaturalfoods.
com
Frontier Natural Products
Norway, IA
www.frontiercoop.com
Galen’s Way
Sebastopol, CA
galenswaystore.com
Herbal Sage Tea
Company
Athens, OH
www.herbalsage.com
Herbalist & Alchemist, Inc.
Washington, NJ
herbalist-alchemist.com
Herbs America
Murphy, OR
www.herbs-america.com
Herbs Etc.
Santa Fe, NM
www.herbsetc.com
Housewerks Salvage
Baltimore, MD
housewerksalvage.com
Jean’s Greens
Castleton, NY
www.jeansgreens.com
Kim Manley Herbals
Dillon Beach, CA
www.kmherbals.coz
Angelina Organic
Skincare
Bend, OR
angelinaskincare.com
Boline Apothecary
Columbus, OH
bolineapothecary.com
Sacred Plant Traditions
Charlottesville, VA
sacredplanttraditions.
com
Sage Mountain Retreat
Center
E. Barre, VT
www.sagemountain.com
Starwest Botanicals
Sacramento, CA
www.starwestbotanicals.com
Kroeger Herb Products
Company
Boulder, CO
www.kroegerherb.com
Sunflower Natural Foods
Laconia, NH
www.sunflowernh.com
LearningHerbs.com, LLC
Carnation, WA
www.learningherbs.com
The Kelly Gallery
Stilwell, KS
thekellygallery.com
Loess Roots
Stanton, NE
landscapingrevolution.
com/Loess_Roots/
loess_roots.html
Traditional Medicinals
Sebastopol, CA
www.
traditionalmedicinals.
com
Mama Jo’s Sunshine
Herbals
Indian Harbor Bch, FL
www.mama-jos.com
Urban Moonshine
Burlington, VT
urbanmoonshine.com
M&J Dog Essentials
Asheville, NC
www.mjdog.com
MoonMaid Botanicals
Cosby, TN
moonmaidbotanicals.com
Vitality Works, Inc.
Albuquerque, NM
www.vitalityworks.com
Way Out Wax
North Hyde Park, VT
www.wayoutwax.com
Mountain Rose Herbs
Eugene, OR
mountainroseherbs.com
West County Herb
Company
Occidental, CA
westcountyherb.com
New Chapter, Inc.
Brattleboro, VT
www.newchapter.com
Wild Carrot Herbals, LLC
Enterprise, OR
wildcarrotherbals.com
Northica Media
Winnipeg, MB, Canada
www.northica.com
Wise Woman Herbals
Creswell, OR
wisewomanherbals.com
Oliver Shores Company
Santa Ana, CA
www.olivershores.com
WTS Med Inc.
Montpelier, VT
wtsmedproducts.com
Oshala Farm
Grants Pass, OR
www.oshalafarm.com
Zack Woods Herb Farm
Hyde Park, VT
zackwoodsherbs.com
Red Moon Herbs
Asheville, NC
redmoonherbs.com
Zensations Apothecary
Baltimore, MD
zensationsbyjen@juno.
com
Sacred Moon Herbs
Dripping Springs, TX
acredmoonherbs.com
Spring 2016 | 53
UpS EVENTS & GREEN NETWORK
Herb Events 2016
Check out our website to find more
opportunities to travel and learn
more about the world of medicinal
herbs: www.unitedplantsavers.org/
travel-and-learning
Brewing with Non-Timber Forest
Products with Marc Williams
May 7
UpS Sanctuary Rutland, OH
American Herbalists Guild (AHG)
27th Annual Symposium:
Connecting to Our Roots
September 29 – October 3
Seven Springs, PA
6th Annual Mid-Atlantic Women’s
Herbal Conference
October 1 – 2
Birds & Herbs: Forest Walk
Kempton, PA
www.womensherbal.com
UpS Sanctuary Rutland, OH
Southeast Wise Women Conference
Appalachian Beginning Forest Farming
Program Events
Black Mountain, NC
May 14
Growing Appalachian Forest
Botanical for Market
June 4 in Pine Mountain, KY
and
June 8 in Quicksand, KY
Planting the Future
Seven Arrows Farm
June 18
Seekonk, MA
Growing At-Risk Appalachian Forest
Botanicals for Market
featuring Mountain Rose Herbs
June 25
Rutland, OH
29th Annual New England
Women’s Conference
l
August 26 – 28
Newfound Lake, NH
Chesapeake Herbal Gathering
September 24 – 25
Waldorf, MD
www.centroashe.org
54 | Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation
Oct 14 – 16
Florida Herbal Conference
Feb 24 – 27, 2017
Camp La Llanada
Lake Wales, FL
Please Save the Date
13th International Herb Symposium
June 9th – 11th, 2017
Wheaton College, Norton Massachusetts
WITH KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Wade Davis, Anthropologist/Ethnobotanist
Wade Davis is a Professor of Anthropology and the
Leadership Chair in Cultures and Ecosystems at Risk at
the University of British Columbia. He served as Explorerin-Residence at the National Geographic Society and was
named as one of NGS’s Explorers for the Millennium. He
has been described as “a rare combination of scientist,
schola poet and passionate defender of all of life’s
scholar,
diversity.” Davis has authored 19 books, including The
Serpent and the Rainbow and One River.
Learn from an extraordinary gathering of herbal teachers,
elders, and healers from around the world.
Rocio Alarcon, Mary Ayodele, Aku Dunyo Richter, Jacquelin Guiteau, Sebastian Pole, Swanie Simon,
Dinah Veeris, Rosa Tupina Yaotonalcuauhtli, Mary Bove, Tieraona Low Dog, MD, Phyllis Light,
Daniel Gagnon, Thomas Avery Garran, Amikaeyla Gaston, Rosemary Gladstar, Dr. Christopher Hobbs,
Dr. Aviva Romm, Karyn Sanders, Deb Soule, Kevin Spelman, David Winston, 7Song, Larken Bunce,
Kate Clearlight, Rosalee de la Foret, Sajah Popham, Guido Masé, Richard Mandelbaum, Steven Yeager,
Nancy & Michael Phillips, Trad Cotter, Jim McDonald, Andrea & Matthias Reisen, and many more
A benefit conference for United Plant Savers
www.internationalherbsymposium.com
“Adopt an Herb” Program Members
American Ginseng
Slippery Elm
Trillium
Osha
Goldenseal
Bloodroot
Wild Yam
Lady’s Slipper
Echinacea
Adopt an Herb
Program
Black Cohosh
Eyebright
Adopting an “At-Risk” healing
herb is your five year commitment to sponsor your adopted
herb’s page on UpS’s website.
The web page will include your
logo, a brief description of your
organization, and any relevant
information you provide. The
web page will be regularly
updated with current research
towards the conservation and
propagation of your adopted
healing herb. Your adoption
fee also helps fund the many
programs which fulfill the mission
of United Plant Savers.
To learn about how To adopt and
the benefits of adopting an “AtRisk” healing herb, download our
PDF brochure from our website
www.unitedplantsavers.org.
Sandalwood
Our Newest
Member!
Spring 2016 | 55
NON-PROFIT
United Plant Savers
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
PERMIT #678390
PO Box 776
Athens, OH 45701
www.unitedplantsavers.org
Printed on 100% POST-CONSUMER Recycled Paper
Eugene, OR
planting the future
Seven Arrows Farm
conference
Seekonk, MA
COST
June 18, 2016
UpS M ember: $45
Non-M ember: $65
T ic ket plus a
UpS M embership : $70
9:00am – 4:00pm
L unch i s ext ra & orde re d
at regi st rati on
SATURDAY
Workshops Include:
Growing “At-Risk” Medicinals & Their Analogs
in the Northeast with Jeff Carpenter
Connecting with the Spirits of the Plants
with Melanie Carpenter
Traditions not Trademark, Get Fired up with
Fire Cider! with Mary Blue
Local Invasive Plants as Valuable Allies
with Susan Clements
Restoration for Yourself & the Landscape
with Todd Lynch
The work of United Plant Savers and
how we source our Medicine!
Please Register at www.unitedplantsavers.org